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ACCORDING  TO  SEASON 


LIVERWORT 

Hepatica  triloba 


ACCORDING  TO  SEASON 

TALKS   ABOUT    THE   FLOWERS   IN    THE 

ORDER   OF   THEIR  APPEARANCE  IN 

THE    WOODS  AND   FIELDS 


BY 

FRANCES  THEODORA   PARSONS 

AUTHOR  OF 

"  HOW  TO  KNOW  THE  WILD  FLOWERS," 

"  HOW  TO  KNOW  THE  FERNS,"  ETC. 


NEW  AND    ENLARGED    EDITION 
WITH  THIRTY-TWO   PLATES   IN   COLOR   BY 

ELSIE   LOUISE   SHAW 


Ah!  well  I  mind  the  calendar, 
Faithful  through  a  thousand  years, 
Of  the  painted  race  of  flowers. 

—Emerson 


NEW   YORK 
CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 

1902 


Copyright,  1894,  1902,  by 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

Published,  March,  1902 


TROW  DIRECTORY 

PRINTING  AND  BOOKBINDING  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK 


(Co 
RUSSELL 


*  AM.  COLLEGE  LIBRARY. 


AN   INVOCATION 


Great  mother,  now  a  suppliant  I  kneel 
Where  grassy  aisles  lead  to  thine  altars  green 
And  flower-fragrant  ;  where  thou  dost  reveal 
Thyself  in  all  the  majesty  serene 
Of  thy  vast  motherhood.     Alone  and  long 
Have  I  kept  vigil  'neath  this  pierced  roof 
Through  which  the  sunlight  flecks  the  piny  floor, 
Where  tawny  thrushes  hold  themselves  aloof 
Yet  flood  the  woodland  with  their  golden  song, 
As  though  they  too  were  eager  to  adore. 


Or  else  on  some  gray  curve  of  sandy  beach, 
Where  lace-like  waves  with  soft  insistence  hide 
Their  glittering  treasures  till  at  last  they  reach 
The  weed-strown  limits  of  the  swollen  tide  ; 
Where  in  my  face  I  felt  the  bitter  spray, 
And  joyed  to  know  the  sweet  sting  of  thy  kiss  ; 
And  where  I  caught  the  salt  wind  in  my  teeth 
Like  some  keen  lover  who  is  loth  to  miss 
A  single  charm,  there  oft  entranced  I  lay 
And  drew  in  deep  draughts  of  thy  briny  breath. 


Or  else  perhaps  I  sought  some  meadow  low 

Where  deep-fringed  orchids  reared  their  feathery  spires, 

Where  lilies  nodded  by  the  river  slow, 

And  milkweeds  burned  in  red  and  orange  fires  ; 


AN    INVOCATION 


Where  bright-winged  blackbirds  flashed  like  living  coals, 

And  reed-birds  fluted  from  the  swaying  grass  ; 

There  shared  I  in  the  laden  bee's  delight, 

Quivered  to  see  the  dark  cloud-shadows  pass 

Beyond  me  ;  loved  and  yearned  to  know  the  souls 

Of  bird  and  bee  and  flower,  of  day  and  night. 


And  so  thy  worshipper  of  many  years, 

Thy  child  and  servant,  who  has  made  no  prayer 

For  self,  who  in  her  eager  suit  reveres 

And  worships  but  the  more,  now  craves  thy  care 

For  this  her  child.     Endow  him  with  her  love 

Of  all  thy  creatures  ;  make  him  long  to  know 

The  meaning  of  thy  moods,  that  he  may  win 

The  later  joy  that  comes  when  thou  dost  show 

Thine  own  self  to  him  ;  thus  his  life  shall  prove 

In  days  to  come  that  all  of  thine  are  kin. 


Let  the  blue  wonder  of  those  dreamy  eyes 
Grow  deeper  as  they  dwell  upon  that  sea 
Which  yields  allegiance  to  the  lofty  skies 
In  rhythmic  swells  of  tidal  harmony  ; 
Their  sight  be  quick  for  hint  of  bird  or  sail 
Against  the  distant  reach  of  boundless  blue, 
Or  for  the  throbbing  radiance  of  the  star, 
Or  curve  of  shell,  or  flower's  tender  hue, 
Thy  holy  places  one  by  one  unveil 
Nor  will  thy  child  to  worship  from  afar. 


Thyself  translate  the  Angelus  yon  thrush 
Hymns  from  its  tree-top  at  the  twilight  hour, 
And  whisper  low  the  secret  of  the  hush 
Which  thrills  the  forest  with  its  sacred  power. 


AN    INVOCATION 


Make  keen  his  ears  for  sighing  of  the  trees 
And  water  flowing  swift  among  the  stones, 
And  insects  droning  through  the  summer  night, 
And  for  those  sombre  diapason-tones 
In  which  is  voiced  the  anger  of  the  seas 
When  stirred  by  Heaven  to  proclaim  their  might. 


Let  him  exult  in  battling  with  fierce  wind, 
And  joy  to  breast  the  breakers  swept  with  foam, 
To  scale  their  seething  walls,  athirst  to  find 
Fresh-hissing  steeps  beyond.     Or  if  he  roam 
Where  seas  of  grass  surge  toward  the  setting  sun 
Be  beast  and  bird  his  brethren.     May  his  sleep 
Be  sweetest  when  upon  thy  tender  breast 
He  lies,  where  slumber  is  not  yet  so  deep 
But  that  the  slipping  hours  bring  everyone 
Dim  benedictions  to  enhance  his  rest. 


Sweet  mother,  though  I  long  have  worshipped  thee, 
Finding  great  peace  at  each  majestic  altar, 
Knowing  my  sorrow  soothed  when  at  thy  knee 
I  lose  my  soul  in  thine, — how  oft  I  falter 
Because  I  know  thee  not  as  I  would  know, 
Because  I  am  not  great  enough  to  grasp 
All  of  thy  mystery  ;  wherefore  I  pray 
That  thou  wilt  teach  my  darling  so  to  clasp 
Thy  hidden  meanings  that  at  last  he  grow 
To  godlike  stature  and  full  light  of  day. 


CONTENTS 


I. 

Introductory     .... 

PAGE 
I 

II. 

Winter        ..... 

.       9 

III. 

Early  Glimpses 

.     19 

IV. 

Spring  in  the  City  . 

•     29 

V. 

A  Spring  Holiday     . 

•     39 

VI. 

May  Notes         .... 

•     55 

VII. 

"The  Leafy  Month  of  June" 

•     77 

VIII. 

A  Long  Island  Meadow  . 

.     99 

IX. 

Midsummer          .... 

.   123 

X. 

Early  August  .... 

•    r39 

XL 

Golden-rod  and  Aster     . 

.    151 

XII. 

Autumn       ..... 

■         •   165 

fNDEX 

.   181 

COLORED   PLATES 


Liverwort, Hepatica  triloba, 


Frontispiece 


PLATE 

I.  Skunk  Cabbage,     .     . 

II.  Marsh  Marigold,  .     . 

III.  Crinkle-root,    .     .     . 

IV.     "  FlDDLEHEADS "  OF 

Cinnamon  Fern, 

V.  Coltsfoot,     .... 

VI.  Wake  Robin,      .     .     . 

VII.  Round-leaved  Violet, 

VIII.  Rare    Form    of    the 

Common  Blue  Violet,  Viola  cucullata  var.  palmata 
IX.  Long-spurred  Violet,     Viola  rostrata, 
X.  Foam  Flower,    .     , 


Symplocarpus  fcetidus,  . 
Caltha  palusiris, 
Dentaria  diphylla,    . 

Osmunda  cinnamomea, 
Tussilago  Farfara,  . 
Trillium  erecttin,      .     . 
Viola  rotundifolia,   . 


XI.  Painted  Trillium, 
XII.  Flower  and  Fruit  of 

Clintonia, 
XIII.  Bunch  Berry, 

XIV. 

XV.  Blue  Flag,     . 

XVI.  Cancer  Root, 

XVII.  Pink  Azalea, 

XVIII.  Cotton-grass, 

XIX.  Steeple-bush, 


Tiarella  cordifolia,  . 
Trillium  erythrocarpum, 

Clintonia  boreal  is,     . 
Cornus  Canadensis, 
Calypso  borealis, 
Iris  versicolor, 
Aphyllon  uniflorum, 
Rhododendron  nudiflorum, 
Eriophorum    Virginicnm   and 

E.  gracile,  . 
Spiratza  tomentosa,  . 


FACING 
PAGE 

8 

22 

26 
32 

36 

42 

46 

50 

58 

62 

66 

68 
72 
82 
84 
88 
96 

102 
no 


COLORED    PLATES 


PLATE 

XX. 

Great  Burnet,  .     .     . 

Poterium  Canadense,    .     . 

FACING 
PAGE 

.   116 

XXI. 

Purple  Milkweed, 

Asclepias  purpurascens, 

.     120 

XXII. 
XXIII. 

Wood  Lily,    .... 
White  Swamp  Honey- 
suckle,   

Lilium  Philadelphicum,    . 
Rhododendron  viscosum,     . 

.  128 
.    132 

XXIV. 
XXV. 

Joe  Pye-weed,    .     .     . 
New  England  Aster, 

Enpatorium  purpureum,    . 
Aster  Novcb  Anglice, 

•  136 
.     142 

XXVI. 

Turtle-head,      .     .     . 

Che  lone  glabra,    .... 

.     I48 

XXVII. 

Balsam  Fir,   .... 

Abies  balsamea,   .... 

.     I56 

XXVIII. 

Hobble-bush,      .     .     . 

Viburnum  lantanoides, 

.     l62 

XXIX. 

Fruit      of      Painted 
Trillium,    .... 

Trillium  erythrocarpum,   . 

.     168 

XXX. 

Grass  of  Parnassus,  . 

Parnassia  Caroliniana, 

.     172 

XXXI. 

Fruit    of     Mountain 
Maple, 

Acer  spicatum,     .... 

.     I76 

I 

INTRODUCTORY 


Self-sown  my  stately  garden  grows ; 
The  winds  and  wind-blown  seed, 
Cold  April  rain  and  colder  snows 
My  hedges  plant  and  feed. 

From  mountains  far  and  valleys  near 
The  harvests  sown  to-day 
Thrive  in  all  weathers  without  fear, — 
Wild  planters,  plant  away  ! 

— Emerson 

Behold  there  in  the  woods  the  fine  madman  .  .  . 
he  accosts  the  grass  and  the  trees;  he  feels  the  blood  of 
the  violet,  the  clover,  and  the  lily  in  his  veins ;  and  he 
talks  with  the  brook  that  wets  his  foot.— Emerson 


I 

INTRODUCTORY 

That  we  know  so  little,  as  a  people,  of  Our  birds, 
trees,  rocks,  and  flowers,  is  not  due,  I  think,  so 
much  to  any  inborn  lack  of  appreciation  of  the 
beautiful  or  interesting,  as  to  the  fact  that  we  have 
been  obliged  to  concentrate  our  energies  in  those 
directions  which  seemed  to  lead  to  some  immedi- 
ate material  advantage,  leaving  us  little  time  to 
expend  upon  the  study  of  such  objects  as  promised 
to  yield  no  tangible  remuneration.  Then,  too,  Love  of 
our  struggle  for  existence  has  taken  place  largely  "tJiZrease 
in  towns  where  there  is  almost  nothing  to  awaken 
any  dormant  love  of  nature.  But,  little  by  little, 
we  are  changing  all  that.  Each  year  a  larger 
portion  of  our  city  population  is  able  to  seek  the 
refreshment  and  inspiration  of  the  country  during 
those  months  when  it  is  almost,  if  not  quite,  at  its 
loveliest.  And  while  among  this  constantly  in- 
creasing class  there  are  many,  undoubtedly,  who 
"having  eyes  to  see,  see  not,"  even  among  sights 
sufficiently  fraught  with  interest,  one  would  sup- 
pose, to  awaken  the  curiosity  of  the  dullest,  yet 

3 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

there  are  others,  many  others,  who  can  cry  with 
Mr.  Norman  Gale, 

"  And  oh,  my  heart  has  understood 
The  spider's  fragile  line  of  lace, 
The  common  weed,  the  woody  space  !  " 

who  are  quick  to  detect  each  bird-song,  and  eager 
to  trace  it  to  its  source ;  who  follow  curiously  the 
tiny  tracks  of  the  wood  creatures ;  who  note  the 
varied  outlines  of  the  forest  leaves,  and  discover 
the  smallest  of  the  flowers  that  grow  beneath  them. 
If  we  do  not  happen  ourselves  to  be  blessed 
with  a  natural  turn  for  observation,  a  little  com- 
Habit  of  panionship  with  one  of  these  more  fortunate  be- 
to  C  mgs  wiU  persuade  us,  I  think,  that  the  habit  is  one 
which  it  would  be  both  possible  and  desirable  to 
cultivate.  It  had  never  occurred  to  me,  for  ex- 
ample, that  it  would  be  worth  while  to  look  for 
wild  flowers  on  Fifth  Avenue,  until  a  certain 
morning  when  a  keen-eyed  botanical  companion 
stooped  and  plucked  from  an  earth-filled  chink  in 
its  pavement,  a  little  blossom  which  had  found 
its  way  hither  from  some  country  lane.  Since 
then  I  have  tried  to  keep  my  wits  about  me  even 
on  that  highway  of  the  Philistines. 

We  are  prone,  most  of  us,  to  be  inaccurate  as 
well  as  unobservant ;  and  I  know  of  no  better  an- 
tidote to  inaccuracy  than  a  faithful  study  of  plants. 
It  is  sometimes  difficult  for  the   flower-lover  to 

4 


INTRODUCTORY 


control  his  impatience  when  he  hears  his  favorites  An  anti- 
recklessly  miscalled ;  and  in  this  improving  exer-  /;^^,ar> 
cise  he  has  ample  opportunity  to  become  profi- 
cient, for  many  people  cling  with  peculiar  tenac- 
ity and  unreasonableness  to  their  first  erroneous 
impression  of  a  flower's  name.  They  consider 
anything  so  vague  and  poetic  fair  game  for  their 
ready  imaginations,  glibly  tacking  the  name  of 
one  flower  to  another  with  inconsequential  light- 
heartedness.  Occasionally  they  have  been  really 
misled  by  some  similarity  of  sound.  Such  was 
the  case  of  an  acquaintance  of  mine  who  persisted 
in  informing  the  various  companions  of  his  ram- 
bles that  the  little  pink-flowered  shrub  which 
blossoms  in  June  on  our  wooded  hill-sides  was  the 
sheep-sorrel ;  and  refused  to  be  persuaded  that 
the  correct  title  was  sheep-laurel.  His  ear  had 
caught  the  words  incorrectly ;  but  although  this 
explanation  was  suggested,  supplemented  by  the  Sheep- 
arguments  that  the  laurel-like  look  of  the  flowers  sj™£_ 
at  once  betrayed  their  lineage,  and  that  the  sheep-  sorrel 
sorrel  was  the  plant  with  halberd-shaped  leaves 
and  tiny  clustered  flowers  which  in  spring  tinges 
with  red  the  grassy  uplands,  he  would  only  reply 
with  dignified  decision  that  his  conviction  was 
based  on  trustworthy  authority.  So,  perhaps,  in 
at  least  one  small  circle,  sheep-laurel  is  sheep-sor- 
rel to  this  day. 

5 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

But  the  uninitiated  probably  allow  their  imag- 
inations to  run  more  rife  with  the  orchids  than 
with  any  other  flowers.     Usually  they  are  quite 
positive  as  to  the  general  correctness  of  their  con- 
Popular      ception  of  an  orchid,  and  unless  you  are  prepared 
c0°/afol°-n    to  be  made  the  object  of  a  very  genuine  aversion, 
chid  vou  wjn  beware  of  trying  to  convince  them  of  the 

error  of  their  ways.  In  response  to  any  such  at- 
tempt they  will  defiantly  challenge  you  :  "  Well, 
then,  what  is  an  orchid  ?  "  and  woe  betide  you  if 
you  cannot  couch  your  reply  in  half  a  dozen 
words  of  picturesque  and  unmistakable  descrip- 
tion. The  term  orchid  is  dear  to  their  hearts. 
Whenever  they  discover  a  rare  and  striking 
flower  they  like  to  grace  it  with  the  title,  and  are 
sure  to  bear  you  a  grudge  for  depriving  them  of 
the  pleasurable  power  of  conferring  this  mark  of 
floral  knighthood  at  will.  Last  year  a  friend  of 
mine  happened  for  the  first  time  upon  the  lovely 
fringed  polygala.  Her  delight  in  its  butterfly 
beauty  was  unbounded.  Having  learned  its  name 
and  studied  its  odd  form  she  turned  appealingly 
to  me :  "  Could  you  ever  call  it  an  orchid  ?  "  she 
asked ;  and  I  was  unpleasantly  conscious  of  my 
apparent  churlishness  in  refusing  to  ennoble,  even 
temporarily,  so  exquisite  a  creation. 

"  I    like   flowers,   but  I   hate  to  pull   them   to 
pieces,"  is  the  cry  of  the  lazy  nature-lover.    Surely 

6 


INTRODUCTORY 


if  we  like  a  thing  we  wish  to  know  something  The  begin- 
about  it,  to  enjoy  some  intimacy  with  it,  to  learn  ™nwiedge 
its  secrets.  Who  actually  cares  most  for  flowers, 
the  man  who  glances  admiringly  at  them  and 
turns  away,  or  he  who  studies  their  structure,  in- 
quires into  the  function  of  each  part,  reads  the 
meaning  of  their  marvellous  coloring,  and  trans- 
lates the  invitation  expressed  by  their  fragrance? 
I  doubt  if  he  who  has  never  been  so  brutal  as  "  to 
pull  a  flower  to  pieces,"  even  dimly  understands 
all  the  strange,  sweet  joy  of  a  wood  walk,  when 
we  are  tempted  eagerly — almost  breathlessly — 
but  always  reverently,  with  the  reverence  that  is 
born  of  even  the  beginnings  of  knowledge,  and  by 
so  much  superior  to  that  which  springs  from  ig- 
norance, to  turn  the  pages  and  decipher  what  we 
can 

"  In  nature's  infinite  book  of  secrecy." 

When  we  learn  to  call  the  flowers  by  name  we 
take  the  first  step  toward  a  real  intimacy  with  The  names 
them.  An  eager  sportsman  who  had  always  jf^ls 
noticed  and  wondered  about  the  plants  which  he 
met  on  every  fishing  expedition,  wrote  to  me  a 
few  weeks  since  that  hitherto  he  had  felt  toward 
them  as  the  charity-boy  did  about  the  alphabet, 
"  he  knew  the  little  beggars  by  sight,  but  he 
couldn't  tell  their  names  "  !     And  it  has  seemed  as 

7 


ACCORDING   TO   SEASON 

though  a  series  of  papers  describing  the  different 
flowers  to  be  found  in  the  woods  and  fields,  and 
by  the  road-sides,  during  the  months  suggested 
in  their  titles,  might  not  only  be  helpful  to  those 
who  care  to  "  tell  their  names,"  but  might  increase 
the  actual  number  of  plants  discovered,  as  one  is 
far  more  likely  to  be  successful  in  his  search  if  he 
have  a  definite  conception  of  what  he  can  reason- 
ably hope  to  find. 

This  edition  of  "  According  to  Season  "  contains 
a  number  of  new  chapters,  some  of  which  are 
not  confined  to  descriptions  of  flowers.  Indeed, 
the  opening  chapter  is  a  slight  study  of  winter, 
when,  of  course,  no  out-door  plants  are  blossom- 
ing, save  under  extraordinary  conditions.  But  it 
has  seemed  as  though  the  inclusion  of  every  sea- 
son would  make  the  book  more  complete,  more 
in  harmony  perhaps  with  the  spirit  of  its  title. 

Thanks  are  due  to  the  editors  of  the  New  York 
Tribune  and  of  The  Outlook  for  permission  to  re- 
publish some  of  the  following  chapters. 


SKUNK  CABBAGE 

Symplocarpus  fa  tidm 


II 

WINTER 


-wide  white  fields,  and  fir-trees  capped  with  snow. 

—Bryant 


II 

WINTER 

During  the  winter  I  am  content — or  try  to 
think  I  am — to  make  my  head-quarters  in  town  Value  of 
and  to  get  fresh  air  and  a  broader  outlook  at  in- 
tervals that  are  frequent,  but  still  at  intervals. 
Perhaps  the  walk  or  the  drive  out  to  the  frozen 
lake  among  the  hills  for  an  afternoon's  skating  is 
the  more  keenly  relished  because  of  a  busy  week 
elsewhere.  For  all  practical  purposes  nature  is 
at  a  standstill.  There  is  little  chance  that  she 
will  steal  a  march  on  me  in  the  few  days  that 
intervene  between  my  visits  of  inspection.  And 
there  is  a  wonderful  joy  in  leaving  behind  the 
noisy  city  streets  and  starting  out  along  the 
white  road  that  leads  across  the  hills.  With  each 
breath  of  the  sharp,  reviving  air  one  seems  to  in- 
hale new  life.  A  peace  as  evident  as  the  sunshine 
on  the  fields  takes  possession  of  one's  inner  being. 
The  trivial  cares  which  fretted  like  a  swarm  of 
mosquitoes  are  driven  away  by  the  first  sweep  of  "House- 
the  wind  that  comes  straight  from  the  mountains,  troubles 
The  graver  anxieties  seem  to  have  dwindled  in 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

size  as  though  in  some  unexplained  way  their 
proportions  also  were  influenced  by  that  same 
range  of  distant  hills.  Thoreau  says  that  "  many 
of  our  troubles  are  housebred."  The  tendency 
to  magnify  petty  difficulties,  to  consider  one's 
special  problems  impossible  of  solution,  might  be 
conquered,  I  believe,  nine  times  out  of  ten,  could 
we  get  out  of  doors  and  turn  our  attention  to  the 
impersonal  but  absorbing  problems  ready  to  pre- 
sent themselves  to  the  open-eyed  pedestrian.  It 
is  not  possible  always  to  run  away  from  the  rou- 
tine of  every-day  life,  but  it  is  possible  often 
when  we  fail  to  do  it.  The  chances  are  that  the 
thing  we  are  striving  to  accomplish  is  not  half  so 
important  or  so  inspiring  as  the  thing  that  is 
crowded  out.  We  may  not  think  it  wise  "  to 
postpone  all  to  hear  the  locust  sing,"  but  I  believe 
we  should  find  more  stimulus  in  association  with 
our  kind  were  we  less  weighted  with  the  obliga- 
tion to  do  an  endless  number  of  comparatively 
unimportant  things. 

One  of  the  best  botanists  and  ornithologists  I 
A  scientist  know  is  a  New  York  business  man  whose  hours 
Tuities  are  l°n&  anc*  whose  work  is  exacting.  But  dur- 
ing his  brief  holidays  and  in  the  early  morning 
he  has  seen  sights  and  come  to  conclusions  which 
have  given  him  a  high  place  in  the  estimation  of 
his  fellow-botanists  and  ornithologists.     Few  of 


WINTER 


us  can  anticipate  such  results,  but  with  greater 
opportunities  many  of  us  might  experience  in 
some  degree  the  joy  of  observation  and  investi- 
gation. 

The  time  will  come,  I  hope,  when  I  can  spend  a 
whole  year  in  the  country.  It  is  perfectly  true 
that  the  contrast  between  town  and  country  gives 
a  flavor  to  both  in  turn  that  otherwise  would  be 
lacking.  But  unless  on  the  spot  all  the  year 
round  the  country-lover  is  sure  to  miss  many 
events  of  importance.  During  the  winter  espe-  Winter 
daily,  Avhen  vegetable  life  is  dormant  and  when 
animal  life  is  infrequent,  an  occasional  walk  is 
likely  to  be  poor  in  episodes  of  striking  interest. 
In  the  books  of  John  Burroughs  and  in  Thoreau's 
journals  I  read  enviously  the  winter  notes  on 
owls,  partridges,  red-polls,  cross-bills,  chickadees, 
and  nuthatches,  on  mink,  musk-rats,  foxes,  and 
squirrels.  But  even  these  brief  lists  covered  not  a 
single  walk  or  a  special  day ;  they  were  the  results 
of  weeks  of  observation  on  the  part  of  unusually 
keen  observers. 

For  myself,  almost  the  only  birds  that  I  see  on 
my  occasional  country  walks  in  winter  are  the  Craws 
crows.  Perhaps  because  of  this  their  cries  as  they 
reach  my  ear  through  the  frozen  silence  sound 
pleasing  and  really  musical.  And  I  like  to  pause 
and  watch  them  flap  their  deliberate  way  across 

13 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 


Winter 

birds 


Snow- 
bunting  in 
Forty- 
eighth 

Street 


the  snowy  fields,  their  jet-black  bodies  thrown  in 
relief  against  the  blue  sky  and  the  white  hill-side. 

Occasionally  I  discover  a  hawk  circling  high 
overhead.  Its  slow,  majestic  evolutions  are  full 
of  poetic  grandeur.  I  feel  sure  the  hawk  exults 
in  its  own  grace  and  power,  it  lingers  so  long 
and  lovingly  on  its  marvellous  curves. 

That  chickadees,  nuthatches,  woodpeckers, 
even  robins  and  bluebirds  and  a  number  of  less 
common  species  are  with  us  all  or  a  part  of  the 
winter,  as  the  books  tell  us,  I  do  not  doubt,  but  I 
rarely  see  any  of  them  before  March.  In  some 
sheltered  spots  they  must  wear  out  the  nipping 
days  and  nights,  venturing  now  and  then  into  the 
barnyard  or  upon  the  doorstep  for  scattered  grain 
or  kindly  crumbs  and  scraps. 

Once  or  twice  I  have  noticed  a  flock  of  juncoes 
in  the  city  back-yard,  driven  to  town,  I  suppose, 
for  supplies.  The  only  snow-bunting  I  ever  saw 
was  on  West  Forty-eighth  Street,  in  New  York 
City,  where  it  had  joined  a  group  of  English  spar- 
rows and  was  foraging  in  the  gutter  as  contented- 
ly as  though  it  were  not  more  at  home  in  Arctic; 
regions. 

In  the  country  in  winter  man  seems  to  be  al- 
most as  inactive  as  beasts  and  birds.  If  it  were, 
not  for  the  smoke  that  drifts  from  its  chimney  the 
farm-house  would  appear  deserted.     Occasionally 

14 


WINTER 


a  sound  of  wood-chopping  comes  from  the  barn. 
Across  the  frozen  pond  the  ploughman  of  last  Winter 
year  guides  his  horse  as  he  marks  the  ice  for  the  Tiomand 
winter  harvest.  Near  the  shore,  his  pronged  s^orts 
sticks  suspended  over  holes  in  the  ice,  the  fisher- 
man waits  expectantly  for  pickerel.  Here  and 
there,  with  skates  and  sleds  and  eager  young 
voices,  the  boys  and  girls  add  a  touch  of  life  to 
what  seems  almost  like  death.  Occasionally  a 
party  of  young  people  on  skees  transform  a  snowy 
hill-side  into  a  scene  of  unrestrained  gayety.  A 
pine-bordered  lake  echoes  the  exultant  cries  of  a 
group  of  skate-sailers,  while  along  the  neighbor- 
ing river  noiselessly  and  triumphantly  skim  white- 
winged  ice-boats.  But  these  evidences  of  life  are 
rare  and  in  the  nature  of  a  surprise. 

For  the  occasional  visitor  the  value  of  the  win- 
ter walk  lies  in  his  immediate  surroundings.  The 
intense  silence  that  broods  over  the  snow-bound 
land  is  a  conscious  blessing.  The  deep  blue  of 
the  sky  and  the  purple  shadows  cast  by  the  trees 
and  plants  are  a  feast  to  the  eye.  The  crunch  of 
the  snow-rind  beneath  his  feet  and  the  varied  hum 
of  the  telegraph  wires  overhead  are  music  to  his 
ears. 

Many  of  the  oaks  are  rustling  with  leather-like  Oak-leaves 
leaves.     I  do  not  know  why  some  of  the  oaks  are 
well  covered  with  dead  leaves  while  others  are 

15 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 


Pitch-pine, 
hemlock, 
and  spruce 


Herbaceous 
plants 


An  inter- 
esting 
winter 
study 


almost  naked.  Thoreau  claims  that  the  young 
trees  only  retain  their  leaves,  while  he  quotes 
Michaux  as  saying  that  this  habit  is  peculiar  to 
the  white  oak. 

The  pitch-pine,  its  rugged,  spreading  branches 
holding  great  burdens  of  snow,  is  never  so  effec- 
tive as  at  this  season.  The  hemlocks  and  spruces 
also  are  strangely  beautiful  with  their  coating  of 
snow,  while  the  shrubs  are  hung  with  white  gar- 
lands like  a  prophecy  of  spring. 

An  important  part  in  the  winter  landscape  is 
played  by  the  dead  grasses  and  other  herbaceous 
plants,  especially  by  various  members  of  the 
composite  family,  such  as  the  asters,  golden-rods, 
and  sunflowers.  Wreathed  in  snow  or  incased  in 
ice,  they  present  a  singularly  graceful  and  fantas- 
tic appearance.  Or,  perhaps,  the  slender  stalks 
and  branches  armed  with  naked  seed-pods  trace 
intricate  and  delicate  shadows  on  the  smooth 
snow. 

The  deciduous  trees  make  an  interesting  winter  H 
study.     At  this  season  a  tree  lays  bare  its  individ- 
uality.    We  note  the  angle  at  which  its  branches    ! 
spring  from  the  main  trunk,  the  degree  and  direc- 
tion  in  which  these  branches  curve,  the  appear-    | 
ance  of  the  bark,  the  arrangement  of  the  buds, 
as  we  can  at   no   other  period  of   the  year.     It 
is  something  of  an  accomplishment  as  well  as  a 

16 


WINTER 


pastime  to  be  able  to  name  correctly  the  leafless 
trees  and  shrubs  as  we  drive  along  the  road  or 
flash  by  on  the  train. 

The  winter  buds  are  a  distinct  stimulus  to  our 
lagging  enthusiasm  on  days  when  spring  seems  Winter 
too  distant  to  be  real.  Each  one  is  a  promise  to  5 
pay  at  an  early  date  on  which  we  can  rely  with 
confidence.  The  catkins  of  the  alders  are  deco- 
rative as  well  as  encouraging,  decorative  to  an 
unusual  degree  after  a  storm  when  each  little 
tassel  enclosed  in  ice  sparkles  and  quivers  in  the 
sunshine  like  a  jewelled  pendant. 

Toward  the  latter  part  of  winter  even  the  un- 
observant become  conscious  of  these  winter  buds.   Tree-tops 


With  the  first  mild  days  of  February  they  swell  %£" 
and  their  color  deepens.  Especially  in  the  up- 
permost ones,  which  receive  the  greatest  share  of 
sunshine,  this  is  noticeable.  The  pulse  quickens 
as  we  notice  for  the  first  time  that  the  tree-tops 
on  the  wooded  hill-side,  gray  and  lifeless  since 
November,  are  flushed  with  rosy  color.  The 
tops  of  the  willows  and  the  osiers  are  turning 
golden-yellow.  The  brambles  and  many  other 
shrubs  take  on  deep  red  and  purple  tints. 

When  the  sun   has  melted   the  snow,  or  even  Root- 
where  you  push  away  the  frozen  crust,  you  are 
surprised  to  find  the  bright-green  root-leaves  of 
many  plants  that  are  not  considered  hardy,  such 

17 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

as  different  members  of  the  mustard  family,  chick- 
weed,  buttercup,  speedwell,  and  others.  Appar- 
ently they  have  profited  by  their  icy  covering. 
Spring  is  Spring  is  in  the  cock's  crow  and  in  the  dog's 
bark.  It  is  in  the  fresh,  stimulating  odor  that 
comes  up  from  the  earth,  just  bared  to  the  sun- 
shine. It  is  no  longer  wise  for  the  nature-lover 
to  procrastinate. 


iS 


Ill 

EARLY    GLIMPSES 


[n  a  pleasant  spring  morning  all  men's  sins  are  forgiven. 

— Thoreau 


Ill 

EARLY  GLIMPSES 

Even  so  faithful  and  experienced  a  watcher  as 
Thoreau  wrote :  "  No  mortal  is  alert  enough  to  The  dawn 
be  awake  at  the  first  dawn  of  spring."  However  °*  sv1XHg 
eagerly  we  look  each  morning  for  the  bursting  of 
the  earliest  bud,  or  however  zealously  we  listen 
for  the  actual  song  of  the  first  bird,  our  bird  or 
our  flower,  when  it  does  come,  is  almost  sure 
either  to  have  been  antedated  by  another,  or  to 
bear  about  it  unmistakable  evidence  of  having 
been  on  the  scene  for  some  days. 

One  of  the  first  indications  of  the  general 
awakening  is  given  by  the  fallen  keys  of  the  Maple- 
maples.  Before  the  last  thin  sheet  of  snow  has  eys 
melted,  you  see  the  maple-keys,  or  rather  half-keys, 
for  each  pair  is  broken  in  two,  standing  erect, 
with  uplifted  wing,  the  seed-case  usually  burrow- 
ing its  way  into  the  earth  before  striking  root. 
The  seeds  of  two  of  our  best-known  maples,  the 
red  and  the  white,  do  not  postpone  their  germina- 
tion till  the  spring  following  their  maturity,  but 
often  begin  this  work  as  soon  as  the  keys  have 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

fallen.  The  early  ripening-  of  the  fruit  of  these 
two  species,  which  are  the  first  to  flower,  secures 
the  most  favorable  conditions  for  the  speedy  ger- 
mination of  their  seed. 

The  bursting  of  the  uppermost  buds  of   these 
Catkins       two  maples,  the  pushing  out  of  the  catkins  on  the 
Pus  ou      willows,  poplars,  alders,  and  birches,  and  the  ap- 
pearance in  the  swampy  woods  of  the  green,  red, 
and  purplish    hoods  of    the   skunk-cabbage   are 
almost  simultaneous,  fresh  signs  that  the  year  is 
carrying  on  her  leisurely  preparations  for  summer. 
Every  hour  now  we  expect  some  new  evidence  of 
Bee  and      her  progress.     The  bee  is  ready  to  steal  the  pollen 
appear        from  the  first  tassel  that  turns  yellow  on  the  brook- 
loving  willow.     The  pretty  mourning  cloak  but- 
terfly, its  brown,  velvety  wings   bordered   with 
buff  and  spotted  with  blue,  crawls  out  from  the 
wood-pile  into  the   sunshine.     In  the  woods  the 
chickadees,  and  in  the  gardens  the  juncoes,  are 
chipping  and  chattering,  while  closely  ranked,  the 
cedar  waxwings   fly  from    one   tree   to   another. 
All  these  are  so-called   winter  birds,  but  to  me 
they  become  frequent  and   conspicuous   only   in 
early  spring. 

These  days,  with  what  is  almost  homesickness, 
I  watch  for  the  first  robin.  It  is  useless  to  look 
for  him  when  the  ground  is  covered  with  snow. 
But  when  the  bare,  brown  earth  comes  through 


PLATE   II 


MARSH  MARIGOLD 

Caltha  palustris 


EARLY    GLIMPSES 


robin 


in  great  patches  that  are  as  fresh  and  sweet  to 
the  nostrils  as  they  are  welcome  to  the  eyes,  in 
some  strange,  unexplained  fashion  I  am  conscious 
that  the  robins  have  come.  I  never  know  just 
when  and  how  this  welcome  and  always  thrilling 
discovery  is  made.  Before  I  see  them  I  feel 
them.  Perhaps  their  voices  reach  me  through  The  first 
the  distance  so  faintly  at  first  that  I  do  not  rec- 
ognize fully  their  presence.  But  suddenly,  with- 
out surprise,  I  hear  close  overhead  that  sharp 
clucking  call,  curiously  human  and  suggestive  of 
the  anxious  would-be  householder.  After  a  mo- 
ment's search  I  see  him  high  among  the  topmost, 
leafless  branches  of  the  elm.  He  stands  motion- 
less, his  bright  red  breast  shining  in  the  sun- 
light. Then  with  another  clucking  cry  he  flies 
away.  Sometimes  for  a  day  or  two  he  seems  to 
be  alone,  but  usually  within  fifteen  minutes  one 
or  more  of  his  fellows  appear,  with  such  an  air 
of  being  at  home  that  I  feel  sure  they  must  have 
been  on  hand  for  several  days.  But  whether  or 
no  this  be  the  case  matters  little.  With  the  coming 
of  the  first  robin  a  peculiar  elation  possesses  me. 
However  blustering  and  snowy  the  March  winds, 
they  cannot  fool  me  now.  Youth  and  hope  as- 
sert their  eternal  sway  and  melt  the  frozen  rills  of 
my  being  as  surely  as  the  sunshine  is  breaking  up 
every  brook  that  must  find   its   way  to  the  sea. 

23 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

The  robin  is  not  a  rarity,  but  his  advent  makes 
the  old  man  young  again  ;  for  the  moment  it 
turns  the  dullard  into  a  poet. 

It  may  be  some  weeks  before  we  hear  the  song 

Song  of  of  the  robin,  but  this  year  I  heard  it  during  the 
latter  half  of  March,  within  a  few  days  of  its 
first  appearance.  Its  early  morning  call  greeted 
my  ears  before  I  was  fairly  awake,  and  late  in 
the  afternoon,  in  heavy  rain  as  well  as  in  clear 
weather,  the  serene,  melodious  strain  came  to  me 
from  the  tree-tops.  It  is  a  simple  song  but  it  is  a 
beautiful  one,  speaking  of  faith  and  hope.  There 
is  an  element  of  sadness  about  it  which  may  be 
lent  by  the  listener,  I  hardly  know.  But  I  do 
know  that  in  all  nature  there  is  no  sound  which 
so  swiftly  takes  one  back  to  the  happy,  hopeful 
days  of  early  life. 

The  bluebird,  as  compared  with  the  robin,  is  a 
rarity  in  my  neighborhood.     It  arrives  usually  a 

The  blue-  little  later,  and,  though  I  have  been  on  the  watch 
for  days,  its  blue,  wavering  flight  and  elusive  song 
have  always  the  effect  of  unexpectedness.  It  dis- 
appears as  suddenly  as  it  comes.  Almost  before  I 
am  sure  it  is  here,  out  of  sight  it  flashes.  Till  I 
have  seen  it  for  the  second  or  third  time  I  cannot 
be  comfortably  confident  that  the  sudden  vision  is 
more  than  a  dream.  In  my  experience  it  lacks 
the  aggressiveness  and  persistence  which  keep  the 

24 


bird 


EARLY    GLIMPSES 


robins  with  us,  however  unfriendly  their  environ- 
ment. The  robin  is  not  to  be  driven  from  the 
neighborhood  because  of  prowling  cats,  and  bark- 
ing dogs,  and  small  boys  with  slings  and  a  thirst 
for  blood.  Just  as  surely  as  the  military  ring  in  Tbeblue- 
his  voice  assures  you  of  his  determination  to  stand  ediction 
up  for  his  rights,  the  tremulous,  confiding  song  of 
the  bluebird  expresses  the  doctrine  of  non-resist- 
ance. In  this  way  there  seems  a  sort  of  benedic- 
tion in  its  companionship,  a  suggestion  that  the 
social  atmosphere  is  charged  with  the  "  charity  " 
and  the"  purity  "  which  it  preaches  with  such  rare 
and  persistent  melody. 

Almost  simultaneously  with  the  robins  and  blue- 
birds arrive  the  purple  grackles.  One  welcomes  Purple 
them  for  what  they  represent  rather  than  for  what  grac 
they  are.  Their  plumage,  with  its  iridescent 
blacks,  greens,  and  purples,  is  beautiful,  but  their 
voices  are  strangely  discordant,  with  the  rusty 
creak  of  unoiled  machinery.  Occasionally  in  some 
note  lurks  a  possibility  of  sweetness,  but  immedi- 
ately it  goes  off  into  a  discouraging  squeak.  Their 
manners  also  are  rude  and  restless.  We  endure, 
however,  even  welcome,  the  grackles,  because  they 
are  among  the  first  heralds  of  spring. 

The  arrival  of  the  song-sparrow,  like  that  of  the 
robin  and  bluebird,  is  among  the  uncertainties  of 
the  season.   This  little  creature  does  not  give  vent 

25 


rows 


ACCORDING   TO   SEASON 

Song-  at  once  to  that  strain  of  joyous  confidence  which 
spartow  }aj-er  becomes  so  frequent.  At  first  he  hops 
stealthily  about  the  bushes,  lisping  occasional 
sweet  but  hesitating  notes,  which  we  trace  to  their 
source  with  difficulty,  if  at  all.  As  time  goes  on 
he  gains  boldness,  and  soon  his  gay  little  carol 
sounds  from  every  quarter. 

These  are  the  days  when  we  wait  eagerly  the 
passing  of  the  fox-sparrows.  Some  windy  March 
morning  they  are  blown  in  upon  us  like  an  eddy- 
ing gust  of  dead  leaves.  Then  their  song,  the 
most  complete  and  musical  of  the  year  so  far,  "a 
Fox-spar-  richly  modulated  whistle,"  seeming  more  like  the 
perfect  product  of  the  mature  year  than  the  strain 
of  some  passing  minstrel,  reaches  our  delighted 
ears.  For  several  days  we  watch  them,  plump, 
sparrowlike  birds,  with  rich  red-brown  markings, 
scratching  for  seeds  in  the  red-brown,  leafless 
thicket.  But  one  morning  we  stealthily  approach 
their  chosen  feeding-ground,  our  ears  alert  for  the 
fresh,  airy,  jubilant  carol  which  has  greeted  us 
before,  and  all  is  silent.  The  fox-sparrows  are  on 
the  way  to  their  chosen  resting-place  in  the  far 
North. 

If  one  quite  ignorant  of  birds  and  their  ways 
wishes  to  become  better  informed  he  should  begin 
his  ornithological  studies  during  this  month  of 
March.     In  the  first  place,  so  few  species  are  pres- 

26 


PLATE    //, 


CRINKLE-ROOT 

Oentaria  diphylla 


EARLY   GLIMPSES 


ent  that  he  is  able  with  some  degree  of  thorough- 
ness and  in  a  leisurely  fashion  to  acquaint  himself   The  month 
with  the  appearance  and   habits  of   one   bird  or  \Znid-be 
species  at  a  time.     In  the   second  place,  at  this  °>'mtbol°- 
season  the  trees  and  bushes  are  leafless,  affording 
an  almost  unobstructed  view  of  the  birds  that  light 
on  their  branches,  whereas  later  in  the  year  the 
masses  of  foliage  constantly  interrupt  our  obser- 
vations. 

In  April  it  becomes  less  easy  to  keep  count  of 
the  new  arrivals  in  the  bird-world,  for  soon  they 
reach  us  in  great  numbers.  Now  we  may  hope 
to  hear  the  ecstatic,  bubbling  notes  of  the  purple  April 
finch,  the  penetrating  whistle  of  the  peabody  bird, 
the  fine  trill  of  the  chipping  sparrow,  the  spring- 
like call  of  the  meadow-lark,  and  the  varied  songs 
of  kinglets,  vireos,  warblers,  and  many  others. 
But  even  though  these  additions  are  so  rapid  as 
to  be  confusing,  the  trees  are  still  almost  bare,  and 
the  lover  of  birds  should  be  abroad  constantly. 

At  times  now  the  piping  of  the  frogs  is  more 
noticeable  than  the  bird-songs.      Near  a  pond  or  Frogs  and 
close  to  marshy  ground,  just  before  sunset,  the 
predominant  sound  is  the  shrill  pipe  of  the  hylas. 

A  very  inconspicuous  but  significant  sign  of 
the  season  is  found,  after  diligent  search,  in  the 
branches  of  the  hazel.  Scarcely  later  than  the 
maple-blossoms  the  little  pistillate  flower  of  this 

27 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

The  flower  shrub  ventures  forth,  "a  crimson  star,  first  dimly 
oftheha{ei  detected  in  the  twilight,"  a  star  of  the  dawning 
rather  than  of  the  evening.  Often  I  find  at  this 
Liverwort  same  time  the  first  faint-hued  flowers  of  the  liver- 
tlls  wort  and  the  early  blossoms  of  the  arbutus. 

A  dull-looking,  uninteresting  little  plant,  but 
one  we  ought  to  value  because  of  the  hardy  per- 
sistence with  which  its  silky  leaves  and  yellowish 
flowers  lighten  the  hill-sides  when  otherwise  they 
are  almost  bare,  is  the  plantain-leaved,  or,  as  I 
Early  ever-  have  named  it  more  to  my  satisfaction,  the  early 

lasting  i       .  • 

6        everlasting. 

The  record  of  these  first  weeks  of  spring  is  not 
a  full  one.  It  seems  to  me  that  March  and  April, 
far  more  than  May,  love  to 

" — haggle  with  their  greens  an'  things." 

But  Hosea  Biglow  is  right  in  liking  our  "  back'ard 
springs."  They  whet  our  appetite  amazingly. 
The  joy  of  realization  is  doubled  by  that  of  antici- 
pation. I  doubt  whether  the  wealth  of  song  and 
of  blossom  which  delights  us  in  June  is  worth 
more  to  us  than  the  rare,  suggestive  notes  that 
strike  answering  chords  direct  from  our  hearts, 
and  the  faint,  unobtrusive  flowers  that  meet  our 
eyes  one  or  two  months  earlier. 


28 


IV 
SPRING    IN    THE    CITY 


The  true  harvest  of  daily  life  is  somewhat  as  intangible 
and  indescribable  as  the  tints  of  morning  or  evening. 

— Thokeau 


IV 
SPRING    IN    THE    CITY 

In  the  city  as  in  the  country  there  are  marks  of 
the  changing  seasons  pregnant  with  suggestion  Season- 
to  the  nature-lover.     One  of   the  most  unfailing  mark 
season-marks   in  town   is   the  turning  on  of  the 
fountains  in  the  public  parks.     How  joyfully  the 
liberated  water  flashes  through  the  sunlit  air.     It 
seems  to  speak   of   the  distant   brooks  that   are 
released  from  bondage  and  free  to  ripple  along 
their  green-edged  channels.     There  is  a  strange 
fascination  about  the  sight  and  sound  of  water 
in  motion.     The  sparrows  dash  with  mad  enjoy-   Water  m 
ment  in  and  out  beneath  the  beaded,  iridescent  moUon 
curves.     The    children   pause   in    their    play    to 
watch,  with  wide,  wondering  eyes,  the  sparkling 
jets.     Even  the  grown-up  passers-by  seem  to  fall 
under  the  spell  and  join  the  little  group  for  a  few 
wistful  moments. 

In  the  squares  it  seems  as  though  in  the  space 
of  twenty-four  hours  the  grass  had  changed  from 
dull  brown  to  bright  green.  Here,  too,  we  are 
convinced  of  the  arrival  of  spring  by  the  blossom- 

31 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

Blossom-      ing  trees.     The  great  shining  buds  of  the  balm  of 

tug  trees        Gilead  at    last  shake  Qut    their    long  tassels.      Xhe 

upper  gold-tinged  branches  of  the  white  poplar 
give  a  misty  effect,  which  a  careful  inspection 
discovers  to  be  due  to  a  host  of  downy,  close- 
set  catkins.  The  elms  and  maples  let  out  tiny 
clusters  of  red  and  yellow  flowers — flowers  so 
minute  and  comparatively  insignificant  that  if  one 
is  caught,  standing  motionless,  with  head  flung 
back,  and  eyes  upraised,  and  is  able  to  account 
for  his  apparently  absurd  attitude  only  by  the  ex- 
planation that,  Japanese-like,  he  is  "  viewing  the 
blossoms,"  the  chances  are  strong  in  favor  of  his 
being  esteemed  a  harmless  lunatic. 

Another  season-sign  is  afforded  by  the  flower- 
beds in  these  same  squares.     As  soon  as  the  frost 
is  fairly  out  of  the  ground,  the  needle-like  tips  of 
F       _       the   crocus   appear.     This   plant   is  followed  by 
beds  tulip,  hyacinth,   and   daffodil.     But   before    they 

have  time  to  blossom,  the  vases  that  front  the 
clubs  and  restaurants  are  filled  with  deep-hued 
pansies  and  English  daisies,  the  latter  the  culti- 
vated variety  of  Burns's. 

"  Wee,  modest,  crimson-tippit  flower." 

Florists'  The   florists'   windows  yield   a  veritable   feast 

of  form  and  color.  Even  more  of  a  delight  are 
the  street  flower-stands,  and  the  moving  gardens 

32 


PLATE    IV 


FIDDLLHEADS"  OF  CINNAMON   FERN 

Osmunda  cinnamomea 


SPRING    IN    THK    CITY 


in  the  shape  of  pedlers'  flower-carts.  These  last 
seem  like  visions  of  a  brighter  world  let  into  the 
dismal  monotony  of  our  dreary  side-streets. 

Strangely  enough,  few  of  these  flowers  which  Foreign 
are  peddled  about  the  streets  or  sold  in  the  shops,  Fowrs 
are  natives.  And  as  one  studies  the  gayly  filled 
window,  or  half  unconsciously  notes  the  contents 
of  the  pedler's  cart,  if  he  chance  to  be  something 
of  a  traveller  as  well  as  a  flower-lover,  memories 
of  many  lands  flash  through  his  mind. 

The  yellow  jonquils  now  so  abundant  recall 
the  rocky  shores  of  southern  Italy,  for  during  that 
wonderful  drive  from  Castellamare  to  Sorrento, 
early  in  December  (though  properly  and  botani- 
cally  these  flowers  belong  to  May),  I  first  saw 
them  at  home.  It  has  never  been  my  good  fort- 
une to  find  in  its  native  haunts  that  near  cousin  jonquils 
of  the  jonquil,  the  daffodil.  But  how  abundant 
this  is  during  the  early  spring  in  England  no 
lover  of  Wordsworth  need  be  told.  And  until  he 
beholds  it  with  other  than  the  "  inward  eye," 
he  has  in  possible  anticipation  an  enchanting  ex- 
perience. 

With    the    crocus    is    associated    my   earliest  Crocus 
glimpse  of  Switzerland.     It  was   already  late  in 
August  when,  for  the  first  time,  I  looked    upon 
the  Alps.     And  almost  as  great  as  my  awe-struck 
exultation  in  the   grandeur  of   the  snow-capped 

33 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 


Daisies 
and  print' 
roses 


Spiraa 

and 

genista 


Heath 
family 


mountains  was  my  delight  in  the  green  meadows 
at  their  feet,  studded  with  the  delicate  blossoms 
of  the  fall  crocus.  A  few  days  after  this  en- 
trance into  Switzerland,  during  a  climb  up  one  of 
the  lower  mountains,  I  found  the  lovely  cyclamen, 
and  soon  learned  to  look  upon  this  peculiarly  satis- 
fying flower,  one  of  our  most  treasured  importa- 
tions, as  the  natural  companion  of  my  walks. 

The  little  English  daisy  recalls  a  May  morning 
at  Hampton  Court,  where  the  smooth,  grassy 
sweeps  were  starred  with  the  dainty  blossoms. 

The  close  bunches  of  yellow  primroses  ped- 
dled at  the  street-corners,  conjure  up  a  vision 
of  that  quiet,  high-banked  flower-girt  lane  where 
perhaps  we  first  heard  the  nightingale,  where 
certainly,  once  and  for  all,  we  fell  under  the  spell 
of  the  tranquil  beauty  of  the  mother-country. 

One  of  our  favorite  Easter  plants  is  the  feathery 
white  spiraea.  This  is  a  Japanese  cousin  of  our 
well-known  meadow-sweet  and  steeple-bush.  The 
yellow  genista,  so  abundant  now,  comes,  I  be- 
lieve, from  New  Zealand.  It  suggests  the  wild 
indigo  so  common  with  us  in  summer,  and  also 
the  English  broom,  all  three  of  these  plants  being 
closely  allied.  The  lovely  foreign  heaths,  which 
look  as  though  they  came  straight  from  the 
Scotch  moors,  could  claim  kinship  with  our  trail- 
ing arbutus,  our  mountain-laurel,  and  with  other 


34 


QWERTY  Of 


SPRING    IN    THE    CITY 


favorite  plants  which   belong  to  the  same  heath 
family. 

Upon  our  avenues  every  sunny  morning-  in 
early  spring  is  found  another  season-mark  which 
should  not  be  overlooked.  You  could  almost 
fancy  that  the  floral  decorations  had  not  been  Flower- 
confined  to  the  squares,  and  to  the  grass-plots  /J" s 
and  vases  that  lie  within  the  railings.  All  along 
the  sidewalks,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  are 
patches  of  bright  color.  These  bright  patches 
are  made  by  innumerable  baby-carriages,  whose 
gorgeous  decorations  harmonize  in  gay  coloring 
with  the  pansies  and  daisies  of  the  parks  and  win- 
dow-boxes. And  lovelier  than  either  pansies  or 
daisies  are  the  little  flower-faces  that  beam  from 
the  dainty  equipages. 

Another  sign  of  the  season  is  the  call  of  "  straw-  "Straw- 
berries" from  the  street-venders.  It  is  as  full  of 
suggestion  as  the  first  note  of  the  bluebird.  My 
journal  last  year  records  that  I  heard  this  call  for 
the  first  time  on  the  twenty-first ;  this  year,  I  did 
not  notice  it  till  the  fifth,  about  two  weeks  later  ; 
just  as  the  birds  and  flowers  are  a  fortnight  later 
this  year  than  last. 

The  English  sparrows  do  their  share  in  cele- 
brating the  return  of  spring.  If  in  no  other  way, 
the  intensified  colors  of  the  plumage  of  the  males 
would  signify  that  the  period  of  courtship  was  at 

35 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

English  hand.  But  besides  this,  they  are  more  obstrep- 
sparrows  er0us  than  ever;  yet  so  joyfully  obstreperous 
that  I  cannot  find  it  in  my  heart  to  feel  toward 
them  all  the  antagonism  that  seems  to  be  con- 
sidered a  mark  of  patriotism.  That  they  never 
had  been  brought  over  to  banish  our  far  more 
attractive  native  birds  is  most  heartily  to  be 
wished.  But  as  they  are  with  us,  by  no  fault 
of  their  own,  I  find  it  impossible,  especially  at  this 
season,  to  withhold  from  them  a  certain  amount 
of  sympathy.  They  are  so  overflowing  with  vi- 
tality, so  brimful  of  plans,  such  ardent  wooers, 
such  eager  house-builders.  Their  superfluous 
enthusiasm  in  this  matter  of  house-building  is 
responsible  for  the  unsightly  fringes  of  rope  and 
other  materials  that  decorate  the  under-eaves  of 
our  houses.  The  amount  of  energy  that  they 
throw  into  their  slightest  occupation  shames  our 
languid  selves.  And  I  frankly  admit  that  I  take 
a  keen  pleasure  in  seeing  their  palpitating  little 
shadows  sweep  impetuously  across  the  bars  of 
sunlight  that  lie  upon  my  floor.  These  seem  to 
bring  within  the  house  something  of  the  freedom 
of  out-door  life. 

And  to  the  city-bound  lover  of  nature  a  pe- 
culiar satisfaction  is  yielded  by  the  few  objects 
which  help  to  link  his  sympathies  with  his  daily 
experience.     That  nightly  certain  stars  sent  into 

36 


PLATE   V 


COLTSFOOT 

Tussilago  Farfara 


SPRING    IN    THE    CITY 


ers 


my  room  their  far-reaching  gaze  seems  to  bring 
me  into  closer  and  more  constant  touch  with  the 
mysterious  laws  of  the  universe.  These  stars, 
too,  are  the  most  unfailing  of  all  our  season-marks, 
sky-flowers,  "  faithful  through  a  thousand  years."  Skp-flow- 
The  stars  which  companion  me  these  April  nights 
are  not  those  which  glittered  in  the  winter 
heavens.  And  by  this  silent  march  across  my 
little  limited  patch  of  city  sky,  I  am  enabled  to 
note  the  passage  of  the  year  more  accurately  than 
by  any  other  of  those  indications  which  we,  with 
city  lives  but  country  loves,  look  and  long  for 
each  spring. 


37 


V 
A    SPRING    HOLIDAY 


I,  country-born  an'  bred,  know  where  to  find 
Some  blooms  thet  make  the  season  suit  the  mind, 
An'  seem  to  metch  the  doubtin'  blue-bird's  notes, — 
Half-vent'rin'  liverworts  in  furry  coats, 
Bloodroots,  whose  rolled-up  leaves  ef  you  oncurl, 
Each  on  'em's  cradle  to  a  baby-pearl, — 
But  these  are  jes'  Spring's  pickets ;  sure  ez  sin, 
The  rebble  frosts  '11  try  to  drive  'em  in  ; 
For  half  our  May's  so  awfully  like  May'nt, 
'T  would  rile  a  Shaker  or  an  evrige  saint; 
Though  I  own  up  I  like  our  back'ard  springs 
Thet  kind  o'  haggle  with  their  greens  an'  things, 
An'  when  you  'most  give  up,  'ithout  more  words 
Toss  the  fields  full  o'  blossoms,  leaves,  an'  birds. 

—Lowell 


A  SPRING  HOLIDAY 

The  countryman  can  hardly  know  the  heart- 
swell  and  the  pulse-throb  which  comes  to  the  city- 
prisoned  man  or  woman  who  breaks  bounds  after 
months  of  abstinence  and  feasts  on  the  first  evi-  A  sudden 
dences  of  returning  life  in  the  woods  and  fields.  SUf*ntu 
Spring  glides  gradually  into  the  farmer's  con- 
sciousness, but  on  us  city  people  it  bursts  with  all 
the  relish  of  a  sudden  surprise,  compensating  for 
much  of  what  we  lose. 

One  day  last  week  we  resolved  to  break  away 
from  work  and  take  a  brief,  unexpected  vacation. 
So,  early  the  next  morning,  breathless  but  happy, 
we  watched  the  city  blocks  becoming  more  and 
more  diluted,  first  with  sordid  vacant  spaces,  re- 
ceptacles for  nameless  rubbish,  attesting  man's 
tendency  to  acquisitiveness  and  his  depraved 
liking  for  embalmed  vegetables  and  refreshments  Fields  and 
abhorred  of  teetotalers,  then  with  incipient  gar-  JlIl'S! 
dens,  restoring  one's  lost  faith  in  humanity,  and 
finally  with  miniature  farms,  gradually  blending 
into  actual  fields  bounded  by  gray  hill-sides. 

41 


ACCORDING   TO   SEASON 

Spring  is  really  behind  time  this  year.  And 
when  one  is  behind  time  himself,  this  accommoda- 

A  late  tion  of  the  season  fills  him  with  satisfaction.  At 
times  on  this  particular  morning  the  woods  looked 
so  bare  and  lifeless  that  it  seemed  as  though  winter 
were  trying  to  lap  over  into  May.  The  ground 
in  places  was  thickly  matted  with  dead  leaves, 
while  here  and  there,  in  a  depression  in  the  woods 
or  on  the  sides  of  the  hills,  lay  a  patch  of  dirty 
snow. 

But  part  of  this  wintry  aspect  was  due  to  town 
eyes,  used  to  the  crude  masses  and  sharp  outlines 
of  city  buildings.     Soon  the  woods  were  seen  to 

Town  eyes  be  blurred  faintly  as  though  looked"  at  through  a 
mist.  We  noticed  that  the  outlines  of  many  of 
the  branches  were  broken,  in  most  cases  by  in- 
numerable clusters  of  tiny  flowers,  these  usually 
without  the  more  vivid  coloring  of  later  blossoms. 
The  flowers  of  the  swamp-maple  formed  an  excep- 
tion to  this  rule.  This  tree  fringed  the  woods 
with  the  vivid  scarlet  of  its  myriad  blossoms, 
and  lightened  the  low-lying  swamps  almost  as  its 
dying  leaves  lighten  them  in  October.  Another 
exception  was  seen  in  the  flowers  of  the  male 
willows,  which  sent  out  stamens  heavy  with  yel- 
low pollen  that  turned  the  catkins  into  golden 
tassels,  and  made  these  willows  conspicuous  in 
the  swamps  and  along  the  streams. 

42 


PLATE   V/ 


WAKE   ROBIN 

Trillium  erect  an 


A    SPRING    HOLIDAY 


The  elms  along  the  railway  were  not  yet  in  leaf, 
but  looked  as  though  wreathed  in  a  coppery  mist 
— an  effect  due  to  the  minute  blossoms  which  ap- 
pear before  the  leaves  put  out.  The  sugar-maples  Biossom- 
were  bursting  into  leaf  and  flower  simultaneously.  "** 
Some  weeks  ago  the  birches  hung  out  their  yellow 
catkins,  and  now  their  branches  were  blurred  with 
delicate  foliage.  This  was  especially  noticeable 
with  the  white  birches,  clustering  erect  and  slim 
on  the  mountain-sides. 

The  oaks,  still  hung  with  the  leathery  leaves  of  Oah-kaoes 
last  year,  the  hickories,  chestnuts,  and,  indeed, 
most  of  the  trees  we  could  identify,  showed  few 
signs  of  coming  summer.  But  their  dull  grays 
and  browns  blended  with  the  misty  greens,  reds, 
and  yellows  of  maple,  birch,  and  willow,  forming 
a  landscape  full  of  tender  beauty. 

We  passed  fields  velvety  with  the  "unnamed 
green  "  of  new-sprung  winter  rye ;  then  skirted 
the  base  of  a  hill-side  red  with  upturned  soil, 
whose  fresh,  earthy  scent  seemed  almost  to  reach 
us  through  the  smeared  window-panes.  We 
watched,  touched  by  envy  born  of  inexperience, 
the  farmer  guiding  his  plough  in  the  pale  sunlight 
with  the  skill  that  makes  the  hardest  work  look 
easy.  Across  another  fresh-ploughed  field  strode  The  sower 
a  sower,  strong  and  sinewy,  with  swinging,  easy 
motion ;  and  we  wondered  if  the  brown,  solitary 

43 


ACCORDING   TO   SEASON 


figure  against  the  hazy  background  would  have 
seemed  equally  full  of  poetry  and  suggestion  had 
we  never  seen  Millet's  painting. 

We  flashed  by  a  bank  recently  burned  over,  so 
that  no  shrubs  or  debris  obscured  its  fresh  growth. 
Liverwort  From  the  black  slope,  star-like,  gem-like,  distinct 
and  symmetrical,  sprang  the  delicate  flowers  of 
the  liverwort,  recalling  vividly  one  of  the  Fra 
Angelico  foregrounds. 

We  crossed  a  swamp  where  bright  marsh-mari- 
golds huddled  together  on  little  islands.  In  the 
woods  beyond,  the  huge  leaves  of  the  skunk-cab- 
bage made  patches  of  bright  green.  As  a  native 
foliage-plant  the  skunk-cabbage  is  surpassed  only 
by  the  false  hellebore,  whose  fresh-looking  many- 
plaited  leaves  were  just  unfolding  in  these  same 
woods. 

One  of  the  most  satisfying  features  of  the  ride 
was  the  constant  companionship  of  brooks  big  and 
little,  brooks  that  ran  full  and  swift,  with  the 
repletion  of  melting  snows  and  the  sparkle  of  a 
spring  morning.  Watching  these  brooks,  the  old 
trite  expressions  forced  themselves  into  one's 
mind — "  unlocked,"  "  unbound,"  "  laughing,"  "  bab- 
bling," "  chattering."  From  time  immemorial 
man  has  loved  these  overflowing  brooks,  and  has 
tried,  not  altogether  without  success,  to  interpret 
their  inevitable  charm. 

44 


Foliage 
plants 


Brooks 


A    SPRING    HOLIDAY 


The  day  was  still  young-  when  we  reached  the 
town  where  we  were  to  mount  our  wheels  and 
cross  the  intervening  hills  to  the  inn  which  was 
our  destination.  As  we  sped  down  the  long  white  Joy  of  mo- 
road  the  last  remnant  of  care  slipped  from  us  and 
we  abandoned  ourselves  completely  to  the  pure 
joy  of  swift  motion  and  bounding  blood.  1  say 
completely,  but  I  am  wrong,  for,  even  when  coast- 
ing down  a  hill,  the  sliding,  misty,  sun-bathed 
landscape  is  part  of  one's  consciousness ;  and  so 
are  the  shrill-voiced  frogs,  the  lisping,  uncertain 
birds,  and  the  butterflies  that  chase  each  other  into 
the  sky  for  the  mere  fun  of  the  thing. 

And  when  we  were  not  coasting  down  a  hill, 
but  pursuing  a  fairly  moderate  pace  along  a  level 
road,  we  noted  even  the  details  of  the  wayside, 
contrasting  the  silver-green  catkins  of  the  fertile  Wayside 
willows  with  the  golden  tassels  of  the  sterile,  ex-  deiaih 
ulting  in  the  glossy  green  limbs  of  the  speckled 
alder,  guessing  at  the  circumference  of  the  great 
elm  which  marks  a  turn  in  the  road,  sympathizing 
with  the  yellow-haired  children  who  had  brought 
out  into  the  sunlight  their  tailless  wooden  horses 
and   their   ragged    dolls,  for  joy  of   the   perfect 


Then  came  a  hill  too  steep  to  climb  save  on  foot, 
affording  a  chance  to  peer  over  the  stone  wall  and 
wonder  why  this  part  of  the  world  was  so  back- 

45 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

ward,  and  if  all  the  flowers  were  left  behind  on  the 
cinder-bank.  Another  ride  on  a  fine  level  path, 
beneath  shadowy,  blue-green  pines,  and  another 

fast  climb,  this   time  without   dismounting.     Then  a 

rest  (and,  unless  you  have  forced  your  bicycle  up 
a  hill  under  the  morning  sun,  you  don't  know  the 
meaning  of  that  word)  beneath  a  blossoming  elm, 
seeking  the  shadow  of  its  trunk,  for  the  leafless 
branches  gave  little  protection,  staring  lazily  into 
the  swamp  beneath,  bright  with  its  willows  and 
maples,  and  at  the  dim  mountains  beyond.  So 
finally  we  reach  our  destination,  with  excellent 
appetites  for  an  excellent  dinner,  and  a  strong 
tendency  afterward  to  loaf  indefinitely  about  the 
pretty  village. 

But  at  last  we  summoned  the  energy  necessary 
for  a  fresh  start,  on  foot  this  time,  for  some  neigh- 
boring  woods.     The  road    led   through   a   pine- 

A  fresh  grove,  then  by  a  grassy  opening,  beyond  which, 
on  a  rocky  slope  beneath  deciduous  trees  which 
let  down  great  squares  of  sunlight,  grew  the 
starry,  white-petaled,  yellow-centred  flowers  of 
the  bloodroot,  each  one  partially  encircled  by  its 
pale,  protecting  leaf.  It  was  some  time  before  we 
could  take  our  fill  of  these  snowy  beauties.  One 
had  to  get  fairly  down  on  the  ground  to  appre- 
ciate their  delicate  perfection,  for  their  whole 
ethereal  aspect  forbids  handling. 

46 


start 


PLATE   VII 


ROUND-LEAVED   VIOLET 

Viola  rotundifolia 


A   SPRING    HOLIDAY 


Now  the  floor  of  the  forest  became  matted  with 
dead  leaves.  It  was  only  by  keeping  close  watch 
of  every  glimpse  of  green  that,  within  two  min- 
utes after  leaving  the  bloodroot  behind  us,  we  dis- 
covered the  thick,  somewhat  rusty  leaves,  and  the  Bloodroot 
flowers,  wax-like  and  spicily  fragrant,  of  the  trail-  t,Htlls 
ing  arbutus.  Within  a  limited  area  the  plant 
grew  abundantly,  its  blossoms,  now  pure  white, 
again  delicately  pink,  sometimes  exposing  them- 
selves freely  to  the  sunlight,  and  seeming  to  give 
out  their  fragrance  the  more  generously  for  its 
warmth,  but  oftener  hiding  beneath  the  dead, 
fallen  leaves.  I  denied  myself  the  pleasure  of 
picking  more  than  one  or  two  sprays  of  these 
flowers,  singularly  tempting  though  they  were,  so 
fearful  am  I  of  the  extermination  of  this  plant,  the 
especial  pride,  perhaps,  of  our  spring  woods,  and 
the  peculiar  object  of  the  cupidity  of  ruthless 
flower-pickers. 

Beyond  the  haunt  of  the  arbutus,  springing  from 
a  ledge  which  overlooked  a  valley  lovely  in  the 
greens  and  grays  of  the  early  year,  we  found  the 
white,  slender-petaled  flowers  of  the  shad-bush. 
Here,  too,  were  young,  silky  fronds  of  that  Looking 
interesting  little  fern,  the  rusty  woodsia.  And  *"' 
here  we  flung  ourselves  on  the  dry,  fragrant 
pine-needles,  and  listened  to  the  wind  blowing 
through  the  pines  overhead  and  across  the  tree- 

47 


ACCORDING   TO   SEASON 

tops  below,  and  forgot  that  holidays  ever  came 
to  an  end. 

Now  the  road  climbed  a  hill  where  the  trees, 
other  than  the  evergreens,  became  more  and  more 

Winter  leafless  and  flowerless,  and  where  the  young  plants 
dwindled  into  earliest  infancy,  showing  little  more 
than  tiny  spears  of  green.  The  white-veined  par- 
tridge-vine, thickly  studded  with  bright  berries, 
and  the  little  wintergreen,  whose  hanging  red 
balls  are  flavored  with  so  delicious  an  essence  of 
the  woods,  did  their  best  to  cover  the  deficiency 
of  other  undergrowth,  climbing  over  the  roots  of 
trees  and  carpeting  the  forest  hollows  with  cheer- 
ful persistency.  But  when  we  descended  toward 
the  valley  beyond,  close  to  a  little   stream  that 

Crinkle-  trickled  down  the  hill-side,  we  found  the  crinkle- 
root  quite  full  grown,  its  three-divided  leaves  large 
and  fresh,  and  its  white,  cress-like  flowers  almost 
expanded.  We  dug  up  a  bit  of  its  fleshy  wood- 
stock  and  nibbled  it  from  time  to  time,  fancying 
that  its  pungent  woodland  flavor  added  a  new  rel- 
ish to  our  holiday. 

Still  more  interesting  was  the  discovery  of  the 

Showy  showy  orchis,  even  though  the  flower-spike,  push- 
ing up  between  two  great  oblong  shining  leaves, 
needed  a  few  more  warm  days  for  its  unfolding. 
This  is  a  quaint,  somewhat  rare  little  plant,  very 
charming  when  its  clustered  pink-and-white  flow- 

48 


root 


orchis 


A   SPRING    HOLIDAY 


ers  are  in  full  bloom.  Then,  too,  it  is  generally 
acknowledged  to  be  the  first  orchid  of  the  war  to 
flower,  a  fact  which  entitles  it  to  special  consider- 
ation. 

Close  to  the  plants  of  the  showy  orchis  grew 
the  rattlesnake  fern  {Botrychium  Virginianum)  in 
various  stages  of  development.  Botrychium  is  not 
a  true  fern,  and  consequently  its  young  frond  d< 
not  curl  up  in  conventional  "  fiddle-head  "  fashion, 
but  folds  over  the  fertile  portion,  which  is  also 
"doubled  up"  in  the  bud.  In  its  immediate  uFiddl+ 
neighborhood,  however,  there  was  no  lack  of 
"fiddle-heads." 

The  interrupted  fern  and  the  cinnamon  fern 
had  just  come  up  "  fist  first,"  and  could  easily 
be  identified  by  their  juicy,  vigorous  appearance, 
and  by  their  soft  wrappings  of  white  or  brownish 
wool.  In  sunny,  sheltered  spots  they  had  thrown 
aside  their  wraps,  and  were  erecting,  gracefully 
enough,  their  slender,  pale-green  fronds.  Many 
other  species,  less  warmly  clothed,  yet  chiefly 
distinguishable  by  the  brown  or  black  or  whitish 
scales  of  the  young  fronds,  were  shooting  up  on 
every  side,  now  curled  into  the  smallest  possible 
compass,  watch-spring  fashion,  and  now  almost 
erect,  though  still  noticeable  for  a  certain  scrawny 
youthfulness  of  aspect.  But  the  day  was  waning, 
and  we  were  obliged  to  leave  further  explorations 

49 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 


Yellow 
violets 


Coltsfoot 


till  the  next  morning  if  we  hoped  for  any  tea  that 
night. 

The  next  day  dawned  bright  and  clear.  We 
mounted  our  wheels,  and  made  our  destination 
some  woods  of  quite  a  different  character  from 
those  we  had  visited  the  day  before.  They  were 
low-lying  and,  in  places,  swampy.  Before  leav- 
ing the  open  we  visited  the  banks  of  a  tiny 
brook,  whose  green,  inviting  shores  suggested 
pleasant  possibilities.  Here  we  found  our  first 
violets — little  yellow  ones,  the  so-called  "  downy  " 
species,  growing  in  fresh  clumps.  Near  by,  on 
erect,  leafless  stems,  looking  like  a  dandelion  with 
its  heart  plucked  out,  we  discovered  the  coltsfoot, 
otherwise  the  "  coughwort,"  "  clay-weed,"  "  horse- 
foot,"  and  "hoofs."  This  being  the  first  time  I 
had  ever  found  this  plant  in  flower,  the  occasion 
was  memorable. 

A  wet,  mossy  rock  looked  as  though  it  might 
harbor  any  number  of  plant-waifs.  Picking  my 
way  along  the  slippery  banks,  I  shouted  with  joy 
A  wet  rock  on  seeing,  lovely,  fresh,  and  dainty,  springing 
airily  from  the  flattened  top,  the  first  liverworts 
we  had  found  since  leaving  the  train  the  previous 
morning.  In  the  chinks  of  this  same  rock  were 
soft  young  clusters  of  the  fragile  bladder-fern,  still 
immature,  but  exquisitely  green  and  promising. 
On  the  farther  side  of  the  rock  grew  that  odd- 

50 


PLATE  VIII 


RARE  FORM  OF  THE  COMMON  BLUE  VIOLET 

Viola  cucullata  var.  palmata 


A   SPRING    HOLIDAY 


looking  plant,  the  blue  cohosh,  sometimes  called 
"  pappoose-root,"  with  smooth,  purplish  stem,  pur- 
ple, divided  leaves,  and  clusters  of  purple  flowers. 
Close  to  this  plant  was  a  leafless  shrub  with  in- 
significant yellow  blossoms,  and  bark  so  tough 
that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  break  off  a 
branch.  This  proved  to  be  the  "  leatherwood  " 
used  by  the  Indians  for  thongs.  It  is  also  known 
as  "  moosewood  "  and  "  swampwood." 

Once  more  on  our  wheels  along  the  winding 
road  and  we  were  in  the  woods  again.  In  the 
spring  woods  the  sun  filters  everywhere  through 
the  leafless  branches,  and  nowhere  did  it  meet  /„  the 
lovelier  upturned  flower-faces  than  here,  where  z 
myriad,  many-hued  blossoms  of  the  liverwort  ex- 
panded beneath  its  rays.  Never  before  had  I 
seen  this  flower  so  abundant  and  so  perfect — pure 
white,  pale  lavender,  deep  violet,  or  pink  of  the 
most  delicate  shade.  I  abandoned  my  usual 
principle  of  leaving  flowers  as  I  find  them,  and  I 
gathered  them  recklessly,  with  exultant,  extrava- 
gant joy,  seeking  every  little  variety  of  shade,  se- 
lecting the  largest  and  most  complete  specimens, 
fairly  gloating  over  their  perfection  of  delicate 
beauty.  Though  the  individual  flowers  of  the 
liverwort  are  hardly  fragrant,  a  faint  and  delicious 
odor  came  from  the  great  bunch  which  finally  I 
held 

5* 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

While  hunting  these  beauties  I  stumbled  over  a 
patch  of  yellow  adder's-tongue,  its  delicate  lily- 

Adder's-     like  flowers  nodding  between  the  smooth,  mottled 

uJEZrt*  ^aves.  Already  I  had  found  patches  of  these 
leaves,  but  nowhere  else  the  plant  in  blossom. 
Close  by,  the  little  bellwort  hung  out  its  pale, 
straw-colored  blossom. 

During  a  drive  over  the  mountain  in  the  after- 
noon we  noticed  the  white  flowers  of  the  saxi- 
frage bursting  from  almost  invisible  crevices  in 

Saxifrage  the  rocks  in  its  usual  sturdy,  attractive  fashion. 
Many  of  the  plants  were  so  young  that  the  flower- 
cluster,  pinkish  in  bud,  was  still  sunk  deep  in  the 
rosette  of  leaves. 

At  breakfast  the  next  morning  there  was  a 
noticeable  tendency  to  the  "  blues,"  indicating 
that    our    holiday  was  nearly    over.     But    once 

The  best  a-wheel  in  the  crisp  morning  air  the  joy  of  living 
came  back  with  unabated  strength,  and,  as  our 
course  lay  mostly  down  hill,  the  ride  was  pecul- 
iarly invigorating.  Now,  too,  our  holiday  did  as 
a  well-behaved  holiday  should,  keeping  the  best 
for  the  last.  We  had  allowed  more  time  than 
necessary  for  this  ride,  that  we  might  explore  a 
tempting  piece  of  woods  close  to  the  town  where 
we  were  to  take  the  train.  Nothing  that  we  had 
seen  since  leaving  home  equalled  those  woods. 
First  the  usual  mat  of  dead  leaves,  then  liverwort 

52 


for  the  last 


A   SPRING    HOLIDAY 


and  yellow  adder's-tongue  in  the  sunny  spaces, 
then  great  bowlders  with  lovely  little  forest  gar- 
dens on  their  flat  surfaces ;  the  young  woolly 
leaves  of  the  wild  ginger,  its  bell-like,  red-brown,  Fortst 
shamefaced  flower  actually  pretty  in  its  fresh-  K'"Ji'' 
ness  ;  great  groups  of  wake-robin  with  gay  pur- 
ple-red blossoms  catching  the  sunlight  ;  tiny  bell- 
worts,  and  the  bursting,  purplish  blossoms  and 
delicate  foliage,  suggestive  of  maidenhair,  of  the 
early  meadow-rue.  Still  farther  in  were  receding 
cliffs  with  moss-grown  shelves  harboring  feathery 
tufts  of  bladder-fern,  and — their  crowning  glory 
— great  soft  masses  of  the  finely  cut  leaves  of 
the  squirrel-corn,  with  here  and  there  a  spike  of 
pale-pink,  heart-shaped  flowers.  The  moments 
flew,  and  the  hour  when  we  must  meet  our  train 
was  perilously  near.  With  one  long  look  we  left 
our  beautiful  woods,  remounted  our  wheels,  and 
resolved  to  live  the  week  through  on  fragrant 
memories. 


53 


VI 

MAY    NOTES 


The  world  hangs  glittering  in  star-strown  space, 
Fresh  as  a  jewel  found  but  yesterday. 

— T.  B.  Aldrich 


VI 

MAY    NOTES 

As  our  seasons  vary  from  year  to  year,  a  fair 
degree  of  latitude  must  be  granted  anyone  who 
attempts  to  classify  either  flowers  or  birds  "  ac- 
cording to  season."  But  usually  the  same  flowers  Varying 
are  contemporaneous.  When  I  find  the  liverwort 
in  blossom,  I  begin  to  look  for  the  bloodroot  and 
the  adder's  tongue.  In  some  sunny  hollow  the 
delicate  pink-tinged  and  striped  stars  of  the  spring 
beauty  are  almost  expanded.  And  before  many 
days  have  passed  the  tremulous  blossoms  of  the 
two  anemones  will  quiver  with  the  least  breath  of 
wind,  as  they  nestle  among  the  great  roots  of  the 
forest  trees. 

In  my  neighborhood  the  columbine  blossoms 
occasionally  before  the  end  of  April,  yet  it  may  Columbim 
fairly  be  considered  a  May  flower.  In  favorable 
exposures  it  appears  early  in  the  month,  while  on 
the  hills  it  is  hardly  in  its  prime  till  the  latter  part. 
Its  pendant  blossoms,  with  protruding  yellow  sta- 
mens, and  curved,  spur-like  petals,  red  without 
and  yellow  within,  showing  vividly  against  their 

57 


ACCORDING   TO   SEASON 


Yellow 
violets 


Common 
blue  violet 


soft  background  of  delicate  foliage,  are  associated 
with  the  pale  young  leaves,  just  beginning  to  ex- 
pand, of  neighboring  maples  and  birches. 

To  this  period  belongs  the  downy  yellow  violet, 
a  flower  which  seems  almost  a  part  of  the  sunshine 
that  filters  plentifully  into  the  depths  of  the  thick- 
est woods  these  May  days.  Yet  I  doubt  if  the 
downy  yellow  is  the  first  of  its  tribe  to  blossom. 
The  flowers  of  the  round-leaved  violet,  another 
yellow  species,  are  among  the  early  arrivals,  and  I 
suspect  that  they  antedate  their  congeners.  The 
books  assign  both  alike  to  "  April-May."  But  I 
have  found  the  flowers  of  the  round-leaved  fading 
while  those  of  the  downy  were  still  erect  and 
fresh. 

The  round-leaved  is  something  of  a  recluse.  It 
likes  to  withdraw  itself  to  unfrequented  woods. 
In  its  leaves  lie  its  greatest  individuality.  These 
heart-shaped  leaves  are  not  especially  conspicuous 
when  the  plant  is  in  flower.  But  later  in  the  year 
they  broaden  by  two  or  three  inches,  lying  flat  on 
the  ground,  and  presenting  a  shining  surface 
which  readily  attracts  the  eye. 

The  two  yellow  species  are  followed  closely  by 
the  common  blue  violet.  In  the  manner  of  its 
growth,  the  shape  of  its  leaves,  and  the  color  of 
its  flowers,  this  little  plant  shows  a  tendency  to 
whims.    It  might  readily  be  taken  for  half  a  dozen 

53 


PLATE    IX 


4&k 


LONG-SPURRED  VIOLET 

Viola  rostrata 


MAY    NOTES 


different  species  on  as  many  occasions.  But, 
whimsical  or  not,  it  is  one  of  our  best-loved  flow- 
ers. It  links  itself  with  our  earliest  recollections. 
Fair  and  slender  it  grew  beneath  the  pink-and- 
white  blossoms  of  the  old  orchard,  among  the  long 
grasses  of  the  neighboring  swamp,  close  to  eager, 
childish  feet,  along  the  lane.  With  a  deeper  pur- 
ple it  covered  the  little  mossy  islands  in  the  be- 
loved brook,  that  flashed  and  hummed  its  way 
beneath  spreading  clusters  of  the  hobble-bush  and 
drooping  racemes  of  the  mountain  maple.  But, 
perhaps,  after  all,  we  loved  it  best  for  the  fidelity 
and  tenderness  with  which  it  brightened  other- 
wise waste  and  barren  spots.  Every  year  these 
blue  violets  sprang  up  in  the  neglected  corners  of 
the  back-yard.  They  carpeted  the  desolate  banks 
of  the  railway  before  it  had  cleared  the  suburbs, 
where  otherwise  only  the  coarsest  and  rankest  of 
weeds  made  themselves  at  home.  They  ran  rife 
in  the  old  graveyard 

— "  where  like  an  infant's  smile  over  the  dead 
A  light  of  laughing  flowers  along  the  grass  is  spread." 

Blossoming  at  the  same  time  as  the  common  Dog  violet 
blue  violet,  I  find  the  dog  violet.     This  is  a  low, 
branching  plant,  with  leafy  stems  that  easily  dis- 
tinguish it  from  the  common  blue  violet,  which 
bears  its  flowers  singly  on  naked  stems. 

59 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

The  long-spurred  violet,  another  species  with 
Long-         leafy  stems,  as  well  as  with  pale  lilac  flowers  that 
vMO*       are  n°ticeably  long  spurred,  is   assigned   by  the 
botanists  to  June  and  July,  but  it  is  on  my  May  list 
and  I  find  it  flowering  with  the  other  early  species. 
Perhaps  the  least  showy  of  the  group  is  the 
Sweet         sweet  white  violet.     This  attractive   little   plant 
white  violet  grows  abundantly  in  our  wet  woods,  permeating 
the  immediate  neighborhood  with  its  faint,  sweet 
fragrance.     With  it  we  find  frequently  the  lance- 
leaved  species,  bearing  flowers  that  are  similar  to 
V.  blanda,  but  with  erect,   narrow   leaves,  quite 
unlike  the  rounded,  heart-shaped  ones  of  its  kins- 
man. 

A  strikingly  handsome,  and  to  me  more  unusual, 
Bird's-  member  of  the  family  is  the  bird's-foot  violet.  Its 
blossom  is  velvety  and  pansy-like,  often  with  one 
or  both  of  the  upper  petals  of  a  darker  shade.  Its 
leaves  are  deeply  divided  into  narrow  lobes.  Be- 
fore the  Botanical  Gardens  came  into  being  I  used 
to  find  it  bordering  the  Bronx  River.  The  nth 
of  May  last,  during  a  drive  along  the  north  shore 
of  Long  Island,  on  the  sandy  banks  by  the  road- 
side, the  more  fresh  and  lovely  because  little  else 
seemed  to  flourish  there,  I  saw  it  flowering  in 
abundance. 
Garden  A  near  relative  of  our  wild  violets,  the  garden 

pansy,   occasionally    strays    beyond    its    garden 

60 


foot  violet 


pansy 


MAY    NOTES 


walls  and  makes  itself  at  home  along  the  public 
highway. 

At  the  same  time,  and  in  much  the  same  soil  and 
region  as  harbors  the  bird-foot  violet,  we  look  for 
the  bright  flowers  of  the  wild-pink.  These  never  ivud-pink 
seem  to  me  more  attractive  than  when  they  flash 
into  sight  as  we  drive  or  travel  by  rail.  In  the 
hand  they  lack  the  delicacy  of  finish  and  detail 
which  we  find  in  so  complete  and  satisfactory  a 
flower  as  the  violet. 

Two  distant  relations  of  the  early  saxifrage,  the 
foam-flower  and  the  mitrewort,  are  abundant  in 
the  May  woods.  The  first  is  well  named.  Its 
small  white  flowers  are  massed  in  soft  clusters 
which  spot  the  woods  like  flecks  of  foam.  Its  Foam- 
lobed,  heart-shaped  leaves  spring  direct  from  the  „,7^or/ 
root,  with  the  occasional  exception  of  one  or  two 
leaves  which  rarely  appear  upon  the  stem.  But 
the  delicate,  crystal-like  blossoms  of  the  mitre- 
wort, so  small  that  we  need  a  microscope  to  see 
them  properly,  are  more  suggestive  of  snow-flakes 
than  of  mitres.  Their  slender,  wand-like  clusters 
are  easily  overlooked  among  their  more  showy 
companions.  The  root-leaves  of  the  mitrewort 
are  not  unlike  those  of  the  foam-flower.  The  two 
stem-leaves  are  opposite. 

Perhaps  we  look  upon  certain  plants  as  rarities 
because  we  did  not  happen  to  know  them  in  child- 

61 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

hood,  the  period  when  events  make  the  strongest 
impression.  The  flowers  I  found  as  a  child  rarely 
seem  to  me  unusual,  while  many  of  those  I  have 
learned  to  know  well  in  later  life  are  possessed  of  a 
certain  permanent  novelty.  One  of  these  more 
recent  acquaintances  is  the  fringed  polygala. 
Since  I  found  it  for  the  first  time  a  few  years  ago, 
springing  fresh  and  frail  in  its  butterfly  beauty 
above  the  dead  leaves,  it  has  been  one  of  the  fre- 
quent prizes  of  my  May  pilgrimages.  Yet  I  never 
become  altogether  accustomed  to  its  delicate 
charm.  The  expedition  which  it  brightens  is 
necessarily  a  success.  During  a  drive  across  some 
lonely  hills  lying  near  the  upper  shores  of  the 
"  Fringed  Hudson,  the  roadside  was  carpeted  for  miles  by 
poygamy  t^e  tencjer^  jusj.  expanded  leaves  and  dainty,  pur- 
plish-pink flowers  of  this  little  plant.  I  had  never 
seen  it  growing  in  such  profusion,  yet  neither 
then  nor  later  did  it  become  a  matter  of  course. 
It  is  to  be  wished  that  the  fringed  polygala  had 
been  blessed  with  a  godfather  more  sensitive  to 
sound.  Its  English  name  lends  itself  to  parody. 
A  light-minded  friend  has  christened  it  "  fringed 
polygamy."  It  is  not  unlikely  that  this  title  will 
descend  to  posterity  in  that  misguided  family. 

To  these  hills  which  harbored  so  abundantly 
the  fringed  polygala  I  owe  my  first  acquaintance 
with    the  painted   trillium.      In   describing    the 

62 


PLATE   X 


FOAM   FLOWER 

Tiarella  cordifolia 


MAY    NOTES 


early  flowers  one  needs  to  keep  a  tight  rein  on 
one's  adjectives.  At  this  season,  not  every  flower, 
but  pretty  nearly  every  other  flower,  is  pos-  Painted 
sessed  of  a  charm  so  individual,  so  convincing,  tnlltH,n 
that  for  the  moment  we  are  inclined  to  yield  it  su- 
premacy. I  remember  that  this  especial  day  the 
pink-striped  stars  of  the  painted  trillium  shining 
through  the  misty,  ineffable  green  of  the  spring 
woods,  seemed  to  pale  into  momentary  insignifi- 
cance less  conspicuous  blossoms.  They  were 
growing  near  a  lake  of  considerable  extent  which 
had  fairly  earned  its  title  of  "  crooked."  In  and 
out  of  the  many  bends  of  this  lake  I  was  walking 
with  the  intention  of  making  the  complete  circuit. 
Till  I  found  the  painted  trillium  I  had  perse- 
vered in  my  resolve  not  only  to  leave  intact  the 
fresh  perfection  of  the  woods,  but  to  keep  my- 
self unhampered  for  a  difficult  tramp.  But  those 
painted  trilliums  proved  too  much  for  me.  In 
their  sudden  presence  every  resolution  dissolved. 
I  fell  upon  them  as  ruthlessly,  as  flower-thirstily,  Yielding 
as  though  I  had  never  bored  my  friends  with  dis-  Sj?^*" 
sertations  on  loving  the  rose  and  leaving  it  on  its 
stalk.  Many  were  the  headless  trillium  stalks 
which  met  my  furtive  eyes.  But  later  they  had 
their  revenge.  The  great,  gay  bunch  proved  a 
growing  burden.  At  last,  in  a  shamed,  stealthy 
fashion,  with  something  the  sense  as  well  as  the 

63 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

appearance  of  one  who  conceals  the  fruit  of  his 
dark  crime,  I  hid  the  drooping,  recklessly  gath- 
ered blossoms  behind  a  pile  of  dead  underbrush, 
comforting  myself  as  best  I  could  with  a  vague 
and  futile,  though  scarcely  misleading,  assurance 
that  I  might  regain  them  later. 

The  May  flower-hunt  is  not  always  attended 
with  such  interesting  if  not  unusual  discoveries 
as  fringed  polygalas  and  painted  trilliums.  But 
even  though  the  neighborhood  be  comparative- 
ly unfamiliar  or  unpromising,  usually  we  count 
Old  upon  certain  flowers.     In  low,   moist  places  we 

find,  as  we  have  found  for  more  years  than  we 
can  remember,  the  purple  or  green-veined  cano- 
pies of  Jack-in-the-pulpit.  Probably  side  by  side 
we  notice  those  faithful  companions,  the  true  and 
the  false  Solomon's  seal,  the  former  bearing  its 
greenish,  somewhat  fragrant  flowers  in  a  terminal 
plume,  the  latter  with  small,  straw-colored  bells 
hanging  from  the  under  side  of  its  curved,  leafy 
stem.  Frequently  in  the  same  neighborhood  and 
with  a  strong  family  likeness  grow  one  or  both  of 
its  kinsmen,  the  twisted  stalks,  one  with  pink,  the 
other  with  greenish-white,  bell-like  flowers.  An- 
other familiar  member  of  this  lily  family  is  the 
little  Maianthemum.  This  plant  is  without  an 
English  name,  unless  we  accept  the  vague  title, 
applied,  I  find,  indiscriminately  to  different  plants, 

64 


MAY    NOTES 


of  "  wild  lily  of  the  valley."  More  noticeably  a 
lily  than  any  of  these  others,  is  the  Clintonia,  an-  Clmtoma 
other  plant  as  yet  unnamed  except  by  the  bota- 
nist. Its  handsome,  oblong  leaves,  large  and 
shining,  and  its  clustered,  lemon-colored  flowers 
abound  in  the  cool,  mountainous  woods  of  the 
North.  Though  I  believe  the  plant  grows  as 
far  south  as  North  Carolina,  I  say  of  the  North 
because  in  the  woods  of  the  Adirondacks  and  of 
Maine  I  find  it  most  abundantly.  Frequently  the 
Clintonia  does  not  live  up  to  its  possibilities,  but 
when  it  bears  its  full  complement  of  leaves  and 
flowers,  four  leaves  and  seven  (I  believe)  blos- 
soms being  the  greatest  number  I  have  found  on  a 
single  plant,  it  is  noticeably  beautiful.  At  such 
a  time  in  general  effect  it  suggests  the  yellow 
adder's  tongue  (Erythroniuni)  which  borders  the 
snow-fields  and  glaciers  of  the  Canadian  Rockies. 
Many  other  lovers  of  the  deep  northern  woods 
grow  with  the  Clintonia.  From  its  whorl  of  deli- 
cate pointed  leaves  springs  the  pure  blossom  of  the 
star-flower.  Frequently  the  ground  is  carpeted 
with  the  glossy  three-divided  leaves  and  small 
white  flowers  of  the  gold-thread,  whose  name  Lovers  of 
we  readily  understand  if  we  take  up  a  handful  of 
the  dark  moist  earth  which  is  threaded  with  its 
orange-colored  roots.  The  pure  inflorescence  of 
the  bunch-berry  borders  the  wood-paths  and  fills 

65 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

many  of  the  open  spaces  where  the  woods  have 
been  cut  or  burned  away.  Often  with  its  com- 
panions, the  Clintonia,  twisted  stalk,  and  Maian- 
themiun,  it  leaves  the  more  inland  woods,  and 
ventures  far  down  on  shaded  rocky  points  that 
jut  into  the  sea. 

It  is  not  easy  to  say  whether  the  pink  lady's- 
slipper  or  Indian  moccasin  belongs  more  properly 
to  May  or  to  June.  According  to  the  latitude  and 
Pink  lady  s-  the  year  it  may  be  found  in  flower  at  any  time 
slipper  from  the  mjddle  of  the  earlier  to  the  end  of  the 
later  month.  Thoreau  writes,  "  The  first  of  June, 
when  the  lady's-slipper  and  the  wild  pink  have 
come  out  in  sunny  places  on  the  hill-side,  then 
the  summer  is  begun  according  to  the  clock  of 
the  seasons."  But  it  seems  to  me  to  range  itself 
more  naturally  with  the  spring  than  with  the 
summer  flowers,  and  in  like  manner  to  belong  to 
the  northern  woods.  The  natural  background 
for  its  striped,  pinkish  pouch,  swinging  balloon- 
like from  the  tall  stem  which  is  guarded  by  two 
broad,  curving  leaves,  is  the  leafy  red-brown  car- 
pet beneath  the  pines,  hemlocks,  and  spruces. 
Different  and  almost  discordant  as  the  purple 
pink  of  the  flower  might  seem  in  combination 
with  the  rich,  reddish  hue  of  the  forest  floor,  yet 
in  reality  the  two  shades  not  only  harmonize,  but 
blend  so  perfectly  that  the  flower,  large  and  con- 

66 


PLATE   XI 


PAINTED  TRILLIUM 

Trillium  erythrocarpx 


MAY    NOTES 


spicuous  though  it  is,  frequently  is  overlooked  by 
the  passer-by.  Undoubtedly  this  is  due  in  part  to 
the  reddish  coloring  of  the  narrow,  waving  sepals 
and  petals  which  in  comparison  to  the  great  in- 
flated lip  are  inconspicuous  parts  of  the  flower. 
Perhaps  this  is  an  example  of  the  protective  mimi-  Prot 
cry  which  may  exist  as  well  in  the  vegetable  as  in 
the  animal  world.  The  plant  stands  sorely  in 
need  of  some  such  device  to  shield  it  from  the 
attack  of  the  omnipresent  flower-picker.  More 
than  once  I  have  held  my  breath  and  looked  the 
other  way  while  passing  with  a  companion  one 
or  more  of  these  flowers.  That  they  are  appre- 
ciated very  generally  and  destructively  is  proved  Bane  of 
by  the  fact  that  they  are  gathered  in  quantities,  P°PularttJ' 
tied  up  in  close,  uncomfortable  bunches,  and  sold 
from  the  carts  that  fill  the  open  market-place 
in  Albany  on  early  May  mornings.  Occasionally 
the  flower  loses  its  color  and  becomes  either  a 
bleached  or,  very  rarely,  a  pure  white.  Once  only 
I  have  found  it  entirely  white  with  yellow-green 
sepals  and  petals,  and  so  tall  stemmed  and  large- 
leaved  as  to  look  like  quite  a  different  species. 

The  two  yellow  lady's-slippers,  the  larger  and    YeUow 
the  smaller  species,  are  usually  a  few  days  later  fers 
than  the  Indian  moccasin.     Gray  assigns  them  to 
"  bogs  and  low   woods,"  but   I   happen   to  have 
found  them  only  on  rather  dry,  wooded  hill-sides. 

67 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

They  are  interesting  and  pretty  plants,  less  fre- 
quently met  with  than  the  pink  species. 

A  May  orchid  which  I  have  not  yet  found  grow- 
ing in  this  part  of  the  world  is   Calypso  borealis. 

Calypso  This  lovely  little  plant  is  essentially  northern,  hav- 
ing been  found,  so  far  as  I  know,  only  in  Maine, 
New  Hampshire  and  Vermont,  of  the  New  Eng- 
land States.  But  early  one  June  I  had  the  good- 
luck  to  see  it  flowering  on  the  lower  slopes  of  the 
Canadian  Rockies,  though  unfortunately  the  ma- 
jority of  the  blossoms  had  been  plucked  from 
the  plants  in  order  to  decorate  the  tables  of  the 
hotel  dining-room  at  Banff.  Its  pouch,  purple  or 
pinkish  in  color,  shading  below  into  yellow,  and 
tufted  with  yellow  hairs,  suggests  a  small  lady's 
slipper. 

The  great,  white,  waxlike  flower  of  the  May- 
apple,  which  blooms  at  this  season,  is  so  beautiful 
and  so  common  that  one  hardly  knows  why  it 
does  not  hold  the  place  in  our  imagination  to 
which  its  good  looks  would  seem   to  entitle  it. 

May-appu  The  long-stemmed,  glossy,  umbrella-like  leaves 
which  hide  it  from  view  till  we  push  them  aside 
are  sufficiently  striking  and  handsome  to  attract 
our  notice  without  any  aid  from  the  blossom. 
Earlier  in  the  month,  before  they  began  fairly  to 
open  out,  each  one  of  these  leaves  looked  as 
though  a  finger  were  pushing  up  against  it  from 

68 


PLATE   XII 


FLOWER  AND   FRUIT  OF 

( lint,, n in  borealis 


MAY    NOTES 


below  with  such  force  as  to  drive  the  blood  from 
the  finger-tip.  Perhaps  the  comparative  unpopu- 
larity of  the  flower  is  due  in  part  to  its  rather 
unpleasant  odor,  in  part  to  its  short  stems  which 
will  not  permit  it  to  be  made  up  into  bunches, 
while,  if  it  is  picked  with  the  leaves,  not  only  is 
it  hidden  entirely  from  view,  but  the  leaves 
fade  almost  immediately.  Though  a  wood-loving 
plant,  it  is  rather  the  inhabitant  of  wood-borders 
than  of  the  deeper  forest. 

Another  lover  of  the  open   woods  is  the  wild-   ivud- 
geranium.     This  flower  varies   greatly  in  color,  geri 
being    spoken    of   sometimes    as    blue,  again   as 
purple,  again  as  pink.     Its  usual  color  seems  to 
me  most  accurately  described  as  lavender. 

Toward  the  latter  part  of  the  month,  the  blue, 
or,  more  properly,  the  purple  flag  tinges  the 
meadows  with  royal  color.  It  seems  truly  "  born 
to  the  purple."  I  do  not  sympathize  with  Tho- 
reau's  feeling  that  it  is  "  loose  and  coarse  in  its  Purple  or 
habit,"  "  too  showy  and  gaudy,  like  some  women's 
bonnets."  The  blue-eyed  grass  is  another  flower 
which  is  perhaps  misnamed,  being  more  purple 
than  blue.  But  its  title  is  so  pretty,  and,  save 
for  the  color  mentioned,  so  appropriate,  that  we 
gladly  overlook  its  inaccuracy.  In  grassy  fields 
we  notice  the  thick,  close  tufts  of  its  delicate, 
yellow-centred  blossoms.     When  the  sun  disap- 

69 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 


Lupine 


Cancer- 
root 


Different 
shades  of 
yellow 


pears,  or  if  they  are  picked,  the  little  "  blue " 
eyes  close. 

A  flower  of  this  season  that  may  fairly  be  de- 
scribed as  blue  is  the  lupine.  It  grows  usually  in 
sandy,  somewhat  open  places,  where  little  else 
flourishes,  with  long,  bright  clusters  of  pea-like 
blossoms  that  make  the  hill-side  seem  a  reflection 
of  May  skies. 

An  odd  and,  with  me,  somewhat  unusual  little 
plant,  which  may  be  found  flowering  in  damp 
woods  at  this  season,  is  the  cancer-root.  It  is  a 
parasite,  living  on  the  roots  of  other  plants,  and 
its  leafless,  lurid  yellow  stems  are  crowned  with 
a  rather  pretty  lavender-colored  flower  which  re- 
sembles a  violet. 

The  different  shades  of  yellow  are  abundant 
now.  It  is  not  easy  to  understand  the  spirit 
which  moved  Wordsworth,  that  faithful  celebrant 
of  the  "  unassuming  commonplace,"  to  write 


"  111  befall  the  yellow  flowers 
Children  of  the  flaring  hours. 


The  spring  would  lose  something  of  its  joy  if  its 
consummation  were  not  blazoned  in  our  conscious- 
ness by  the  gold  of  the  dandelions.  Their  lovely 
constellations  make  a  little  heaven  on  earth  of  the 
grassy  places  that  have  been  brown  and  bare  for 
months.     The  first   dandelions  touch   the   heart- 

70 


MAY    NOTES 


strings  in  much  the  same  way  as  do  the  early 
notes  of  the  robin,  their  blessed  familiarity  im- 
pressing us  like  a  happy  surprise. 

The  slender  strands  of  the  little  cinquefoil  carpet 
the  meadows  and  road-sides,  its  divided  leaves  de- 
luding the  average  passer-by  into  the  belief  that  it 
is  a  yellow-flowered  wild-strawberry.  In  moist 
ditches  we  notice  the  flat-tipped  clusters  of  the 
early  meadow-parsnip,  suggesting  its  kinship  to 
the  wild-carrot  of  summer.  Certain  meadows, 
especially  southward,  are  flooded  with  deep  or- 
ange. If  we  explore  them  we  discover  the  deep- 
hued  flower-heads,  somewhat  suggesting  dande- 
lions, of  the  cynthia.  More  generally  abundant, 
perhaps,  is  the  golden  ragwort,  with  much  the 
aspect  of  a  yellow  daisy.  The  various  yellow  77v  mus 
members  of  the  mustard  family  begin  also  to  be 
abundant.  Most  of  these  are  coarse,  rank-grow- 
ing plants,  but  with  flowers  that  in  their  prime 
wear  a  pure  and  lovely  yellow. 

Of  the  native  trees  wdiich  flower  in  May,  one 
of  the  smallest,  but  perhaps  the  most  beautiful,  is 
the  dogwood.  Its  flat,  spreading  branches  look 
as  though  laden  with  drifts  of  snow.  The  in- 
florescence of  this  tree  is  similar  to  that  of  its 
little  relation,  the  bunch-berry,  each  apparent 
flower  consisting  of  a  close  cluster  of  small  green- 
ish   blossoms,    which    are    surrounded    by    pure 

71 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 


white,  showy,  petal-like  leaves.  Occasionally 
Pink  dog-  these  petal-like  leaves  are  pink.  The  only  pink 
dogwood  I  remember  to  have  seen  was  growing 
in  a  lane  near  the  Bronx  River  some  years  ago. 
Whether  it  is  still  standing  I  do  not  know.  But 
I  shall  always  carry  in  my  mind  a  picture  of  its 
rosy  loveliness  as  it  flung  its  spreading  pink- 
wreathed  branches  across  the  lane,  feathery  with 
young  green  things  and  bordered  with  columbines, 
bellworts,  wild-ginger,  Dutchman's  breeches,  and 
other  flowering  plants  whose  exact  identity  I  do 
not  recall. 

The  white  clusters  of  the  wild-cherry-trees 
Cherry-  lighten  the  hill-sides.  Along  the  country  lanes 
droop  the  slender  racemes  of  the  choke-cherry. 
Among  the  later  maples  to  flower  are  the  striped 
and  the  mountain  species.  The  mountain-maple 
is  a  tall  shrub,  easily  identified  by  its  erect  clusters 
of  greenish  flowers,  which,  later  in  the  year,  are  re- 
Mapies  placed  by  vivid  pink-tinged  fruit.  The  striped  spe- 
cies is  a  small  tree  which  owes  its  name  to  its  light 
bark,  which  is  streaked  with  dark  lines.  It  bears 
its  greenish  flowers  in  loose,  drooping  racemes. 
In  some  places  it  is  known  as  "  moose-wood." 

Perhaps  more  actually  decorative  effects  are  se- 
cured by  the  shrubs  that  flower  in  May  than  by 
either  the  trees  or  the  smaller  plants.  One  of  the 
earliest  of  these  is  the  red-berried  elder,  with  its 

72 


PLATE   Xill 


BUNCH   BERRY 

Cornus  <  'anadt  nsis 


MAY    NOTKS 


pyramidal  masses  of  while  blossoms.  Along  the 
lanes  the  thorns  are  conspicuous.  In  their  white, 
round-petalled  flowers  with  pink-tipped  stamens 

we  see  evidences  of  their  kinship  to  the  apple- 
blossoms.  Deep  in  the  woods,  often  throwing 
its  picturesque,  strangling'  branches  across  some 
swift-rushing  stream,  we  find  the  flat  clusters  oi 
the  hobble-bush. 

The  Labrador  tea  is  blossoming  in  these  same 
woods,  though  more  abundantly  far  northward. 
as  its  name  indicates.  The  individuality  of  this  Labrador 
shrub  is  always  interesting  on  account  of  the 
leathery  leaves  which  are  heavily  lined  with  rust- 
colored  wool,  suggesting  ample  protection  against 
cold  and  wet.  On  this  hardy-looking  plant  it  is  a 
surprise  to  find  the  delicate,  somewhat  fragrant 
white  blossoms. 

Far  less  frequent  than  the  white-flowered  shrubs 
in  May  are  those  with  colored  blossoms.  Yet 
this  is  the  month  of  the  pink  azalea,  which  grows 
in  great  tangles  in  the  wet  meadows,  creeping  Pink-flow- 
with  warm  waves  of  color  into  every  little  bay  ' 
formed  by  the  dark  promontories  of  the  neighbor- 
ing woods.  A  shrub  nearly  related  to  the  azalea, 
which  I  never  found  in  flower  till  this  year,  is  the 
rhodora.  For  the  first  time  I  was  able  to  visit  its 
haunts  early  enough  to  see  the  brilliant  butterfly- 
blossoms,  purplish-pink  in  color,  almost  blotting 

73 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

out  of  sight  the  framework  of  the  shrub.  The 
thrill  of  excitement  caused  by  this  experience  was 
not  due,  perhaps,  so  much  to  my  admiration  of  its 
beauty  or  appreciation  of  its,  to  me,  unusualness, 
as  to  the  interest  inspired  by  the  flower  which 
had  moved  Emerson  to  write  one  of  his  loveliest 
poems. 

In  May  the  birds  become  so  numerous  that  it 
would  be  impossible  to  describe  any  great  num- 
ber of  them  in  a  book  not  devoted  to  the  subject. 

Birds  of  For  many  birds  May  is  the  most  important  month 
of  the  year,  for  it  is  their  time  of  nesting.  Their 
song  now  approaches  its  greatest  perfection. 
Early  in  the  month  it  expresses  the  rapture  of 
courtship,  later  the  joy  of  possession. 

From  swampy  meadows  come  the  gurgling 
notes  of  the  red-winged  blackbirds,  whose  bright 
shoulder-bars  flash  above  the  gleaming   grasses. 

Swallows  The  cat-bird  mews  within  the  shrubbery  that 
skirts  the  lawn.  Under  the  eaves  of  the  barn  the 
cliff-swallows  take  possession  of  their  curious  bot- 
tle-like nests,  which  have  done  service  from  year 
to  year.  The  barn-swallows  prefer  to  go  inside 
and  build  upon  the  rafters,  while  the  tree-swallows 
look  out  for  holes  in  trees  and  posts.     On  or  near 

Other         the  ground  in  swampy  thickets  the  Maryland  yel- 

birds  low-throat  builds  its  nest,  while  from  the  forked 

branch  of  some  low  tree  the  red-eyed  vireo  hangs 
its  cup-like  cradle. 

74 


MAY    NOTES 


May  is  the  month  of    the    oriole.      In  and   oul    Birdof 
among-  the  apple-blossoms  and   lilacs    and    other  Zulearden 
gay-flowered  garden  shrubs,  rivalling,  if  not  sur- 
passing their  brilliant  colors,  it  flashes  in  its  search 

for  food  and  for  material  with  which  to  build  its 
swinging  home  in  the    elm-tree.     Its  penetrating 

whistle  possesses  much  the  same  quality  for  the 
ear  as  its  flame-like  color  does  for  the  eye. 

If  the  oriole  is  the  bird  of  the  orchard  and  gar- 
den, the  upland  meadows  belong  to  the  bobolink. 
All  the  joy  of  life  these  spring  days  is  in  its  tink- 
ling song.  A  rapture  of  abandonment,  a  veritable  Bird  of  tU 
tintinabulation  of  glee,  comes  up  to  us  from  those  ^./^^ 
deep  floods  of  grass  and  flowers.  When  in  his 
wedding-coat  of  black  and  white,  I  know  no  such 
interpreter  of  pure  lightheadedness  as  the  bobo- 
link. Once  this  is  laid  aside,  he  seems  to  feel  "  the 
heavy  and  the  weary  weight,"  like  the  rest  of  us. 

The  wood-thrush  is  the  bird  of  the  May  woods.  Bird 
Early  in  the  month  I  hear  for  the  first  time  his 
serene,  hymn-like  notes.     However  commonplace 
my  actual  surroundings  may  be,  instantly  I  am 
transported  to 

"  some  melodious  plot 
Of  beeches  green  and  shadows  numberless," 

and  my  whole  being  is  permeated  with  the  spirit 
of  perfect  serenity,  of  which  this  song  is  the 
apotheosis. 

75 


VII 
"THE    LEAFY   MONTH   OF  JUNE" 


Now  is  the  high-tide  of  the  year, 

And  whatever  of  life  hath  ebbed  away 

Comes  flooding  back  with  a  ripply  cheer 
Into  every  bare  inlet  and  creek  and  bay. 

—Lowell 


VII 

"THE   LEAFY  MONTH   OF   JUNE" 

When  Coleridge  called  this 

"  — the  leafy  month  of  June," 

it  seems  to  me  that  he  struck  the  note  of  the  first 
summer  month  more  distinctly  than  our  own  Bry- 
ant, who  wrote  of  "  flowery  June."  June  is,  above  -  TbeUajy 
all  things,  "  leafy,"  seeming  chiefly  to  concentrate 
her  energies  on  her  foliage  ;  for  although  she 
really  is  not  lacking  in  flowers,  they  are  almost 
swamped  in  the  great  green  flood  which  has  swept 
silently  but  irresistibly  across  the  land.  At  times 
one  loses  sight  of  them  altogether,  and  fancies  that 
a  sort  of  reaction  has  set  in  after  that 

11  — festival 
Of  breaking  bud  and  scented  breath  " 

which  enchained  our  senses  a  few  weeks  since. 

But  the  sight  of  a  clover-field  alone  suffices  to 
dispel  the  thought.  There  is  no  suggestion  of  ex- 
haustion in  the  close,  sweet-scented,  wholesome 
heads  which  are  nodding  over  whole  acres  of  land. 

79 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

"  South  winds  jostle  them, 
Bumble-bees  come, 
Hover,  hesitate, 
Drink,  and  are  gone," 

Clover        sings  Emily  Dickinson,  who  elsewhere  calls  the 

clover  the 

— "  flower  that  bees  prefer 

And  butterflies  desire." 

Indeed,  although  this  is  not  a  native  blossom,  it 
seems  to  have  taken  a  special  hold  on  the  imag- 
ination of  our  poets.  Mr.  James  Whitcomb  Riley 
asks, 

— "  what  is  the  lily  and  all  of  the  rest 
Of  the  flowers  to  a  man  with  a  heart  in  his  breast, 
That  was  dipped  brimmin'  full  of  the  honey  and  dew 
Of  the  sweet  clover-blossoms  his  babyhood  knew  ?  " 

It  is  generally  acknowledged  that  our  sense  of 
smell  is  so  intimately  connected  with  our  powers 
Assotia  of  memory  that  odors  serve  to  recall,  with  pecul- 
iar vividness,  the  particular  scenes  with  which 
they  are  associated.  Many  of  us  have  been  startled 
by  some  swiftly  borne,  perhaps  unrecognized  fra- 
grance, which,  for  a  brief  instant,  has  forcibly  pro- 
jected us  into  the  past ;  and  I  can  imagine  that 
a  sensitively  organized  individual — and  surely  the 
poet  is  the  outcome  of  a  peculiarly  sensitive  and 
highly  developed  organization — might  be  carried 
back,  with  the  strong  scent  of  the  clover-field,  to 

80 


tion 


"THE    LEAFY    MONTH    OF   JUNE" 

the  days  when  its  breath  was  a  sufficient  joy  and 
its  limits  barred  out  all  possibility  of  disaster. 

If  we  pluck  from  the  rounded  heads  one  tiny 
flower  and  examine  it  with  a  magnifying-glass 
we  see  that  it  has  somewhat  the  butterfly  shape 
of  its  kinsman,  the  sweet-pea  of  the  garden. 
We  remember  that  as  children  we  followed  the 
bee's  example  and  sucked  from  its  slender  tube 
the  nectar;  and  we  conclude  that  the  combined  Insect  vis- 
presence  of  irregularity  of  form,  nectar,  vivid  ttors 
coloring,  and  fragrance  indicates  a  need  of  insect 
visitors  for  the  exchange  of  pollen  and  conse- 
quent setting  of  seed,  as  Nature  never  expends  so 
much  effort  without  some  clear  end  in  view. 

As  an  instance  of  the  strange  "  web  of  complex 
relations,"  to  quote  Darwin,  which  binds  to- 
gether the  various  forms  of  life,  I  recall  a  state- 
ment, which  created  some  amusement  at  a  meet-  ptnk  do- 
ing of  the  English  Royal  Agricultural  Society,  ^,^olJ 
to  the  effect  that  the  growth  of  pink  clover  de- 
pended largely  on  the  proximity  of  old  women. 
The  speaker  argued  that  old  women  kept  cats ; 
cats  killed  mice  ;  mice  were  prone  to  destroy  the 
nests  of  the  bumble-bees,  which  alone  were  fitted, 
owing  to  the  length  of  their  probosces,  to  fer- 
tilize the  blossoms  of  the  clover.  Consequently,  a 
good  supply  of  clover  depended  on  an  abundance 
of  old  women. 

81 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 


rarity 


A  new  ac- 
quaintance 


The  little  yellow  hop-clover  has  just  begun  to 
A  common  make  its  appearance  in  the  sandy  fields  and  along 
the  road-sides.  Although  it  is  very  common,  and 
in  spite  of  its  general  resemblance,  both  in  leaf 
and  flower,  to  the  other  clovers,  it  seems  to  be 
recognized  but  seldom.  I  have  known  people  to 
gather  it  with  unction  and  send  it  to  some  dis- 
tant botanical  friend  as  a  rarity. 

One  morning  last  fall  I  found  a  quantity  of 
blood-red  clover-heads  by  the  road-side.  As  I 
was  gathering  a  few — never  before  having  seen 
this  species,  I  was  confident — a  woman  came  out 
from  the  neighboring  farm-house  to  tell  me  that 
her  husband  had  planted  his  clover-seed,  as  usual, 
the  previous  spring,  and  had  been  much  amazed 
at  the  appearance  of  this  flaming  crop.  She  was 
eager  to  know  if  I  could  tell  her  what  sort  of 
clover  it  was  that  yielded  these  unusual  blossoms. 

A  careful  search  through  my  "  Gray  "  left  me 
quite  in  the  dark.  Every  plant-lover  knows  the 
sense  of  defeat  that  comes  with  the  acknowledg- 
ment that  you  cannot  place  a  flower,  and  will 
sympathize  with  the  satisfaction  which  I  experi- 
enced a  few  days  later  when,  while  reading  in 
one  of  Mr.  Burroughs's  books  an  account  of  a 
country  walk  in  England,  I  found  a  description 
of  Trifolium  incamatiim,  a  clover  common  on  the 
other   side,    but   comparatively    recently   known 

82 


The 

stranger 
identified 


PLATE   XIV 


Calypso  hnreali* 


"THE    LEAFY    MONTH    OF   JUNE" 

here,  that  exactly  tallied  with  the  appearance  of 
the  stranger  which  by  some  chance  had  found  its 
way  to  the  dooryard  of  the  Connecticut  fanner. 

It  is  in  the  June  grass  that  the  buttercups  and 
daisies  open  their  eyes  and  take  their  first  look  at  Buttercups 
the  new  year.  Blue-flags  still  lift  their  stately  •**** 
heads  along  the  water-courses,  and  the  blossoms 
of  the  blue-eyed  grass  are  now  so  large  and 
abundant  that  they  seem  to  float  like  a  flood  of 
color  on  the  tops  of  the  long  grasses.  In  the  wet 
meadows,  at  least,  the  blues  now  predominate, 
rather  than  the  yellows.  The  only  yellow  flower 
that  seems  to  be  abundant  among  the  flags  and 
blue-eyes  is  a  day-blooming  species  of  the  even- 
ing primrose,  with  delicate,  four-petalled  flowers 
scattered  about  the  upper  part  of  the  slender 
stems. 

It  is  Richard  Jeffries  who  finds  fault  with  the 
artists  for  the  profuseness  with  which  they  scat-  Field jlaic- 
tered  flowers  upon  their  canvases ;  but,  for  my- 
self, I  recall  no  painted  meadow  more  thickly 
strewn  with  blossoms  than  the  actual  one  which 
stretches  before  me.  It  seems  to  me  that  the 
fault  to-day  lies  more  in  the  quality  of  the  paint- 
ing than  in  the  quantity  of  the  flowers. 

It  is  in  the  face  of  modern  tradition  that  one 
wishes  to  see  these  indicated  with  some  fidelity 
and  tenderness ;  yet  I  cannot  but  feel  that  the  old 

83 


ers 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 


Fields  of 
Paradise 


Painted 
cup 


Italians — Fra  Angelico,  for  example — caught  bet- 
ter the  spirit  of  the  fields  of  Paradise  when  they 
starred  them  with  separate,  gem-like  flowers,  than 
do  our  modern  men  that  of  our  own  meadows, 
which  they  dash  with  reckless  splashes  of  color, 
expecting  the  leafless,  stemless  blotches  to  do 
duty  for  the  most  exquisitely  tinted  and  deli- 
cately modelled  of  Nature's  products.  And  I 
think  that  one  recalls  more  vividly  in  the  gal- 
leries of  Florence  than  in  those  of  Fifty-seventh 
Street  the  near  effect  of  the  flower-spangled 
fields  which  border  our  Hudson. 

A  flower  of  the  June  fields  somewhat  infrequent 
in  my  experience  is  the  painted  cup.  This  plant 
owes  its  effectiveness,  not  to  the  blossoms,  which, 
pale  yellow  in  color,  are  rather  small  and  incon- 
spicuous, but  to  the  scarlet  leaves  by  which  they 
are  surrounded.  It  is  one  of  the  plants  which  love 
to  grow  in  masses.  The  sensation  on  seeing  for 
the  first  time  a  sunlit  meadow  patched  with  these 
intensely  colored  leaves  is  not  soon  forgotten.  I 
always  associate  the  painted  cup  with  the  song  of 
the  bobolink.  The  first  time  I  ever  met  with  it, 
the  sweet  morning  air  was  alive  with  the  happy 
tinkle  of  these  birds.  Their  black  and  white  coats 
flashed  in  the  sunshine  and  hovered  above  or  dis- 
appeared beneath  the  glistening  grasses  and  gay 
flowers  of  the  surrounding  meadow. 

34 


PLATE    XV 


BLUE   FLAG 

Iris  versicolor 


THE    LEAFY    MONTH    OF   JUNE" 


In  the  woods  of  June  no  family  is  more  con- 
sciously or  conspicuously  represented  than  the  Heaths 
heaths.  The  small,  bell-like  waxen  blossoms, 
white,  pink,  or  actually  red,  of  the  various  blue- 
berries and  huckleberries  appear  early  in  the 
month.  In  the  mountains  and  along  the  New 
England  coast  we  find  in  flower  at  this  time  a 
singularly  attractive  little  plant,  the  mountain- 
cranberry.  Its  blossom  resembles  those  of  the 
blueberry  group  more  closely  than  it  docs  the 
flowers  of  the  other  cranberries,  being  bell-shaped 
and  wax-like.  It  is  a  creeping  plant  and  its  rose- 
colored  blossoms,  growing  in  close  clusters,  nestle 
among  the  dark,  shining  evergreen  leaves  which 
carpet  the  rocky  ledges  near  the  sea  or  cover  dain- 
tily the  stones  which  rise  up  in  the  wood-path. 
It  seems  to  me  a  much  more  perfect  and  pictu- 
resque plant  than  its  relative,  the  trailing  arbutus, 
but  its  flowers  lack  the  rare  fragrance  of  the  latter. 

The  other  cranberries,  the  small  and  the  large, 
blossom  later  in  the  month,  lasting  sometimes  Cranber- 
well  into  July.  Their  pale-pink  flowers  nod  from 
erect,  thread-like  stems  among  the  slender  grasses 
and  delicate,  moisture-loving  plants  of  the  peat 
bogs.  The  reflexed  petals  and  protruding  conni- 
vent  stamens  of  these  blossoms  suggest  somewhat 
the  shooting-star  of  our  western  woods  as  well  as 
its  larger  kinsman,  the  European  cyclamen.    The 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

leaves  of  both  species  are  small  and  evergreen, 
somewhat  similar  to  those  of  the  mountain-cran- 
berry. 

A  singularly  attractive  little  plant  belonging  to 

this  heath  tribe  is  the  one-flowered  pyrola.     Its 

One-flow-    actual  name,  Moneses  grandijlora,  is  more  sugges- 

ere  pyioa  ^.^  ^  .^  pecil]_iar  charm.     Not  only  is  the  white, 

waxen  flower  that  droops  from  the  tip  of  a  slen- 
der stem  strikingly  large  in  proportion  to  the 
height  of  the  plant,  which  does  not  exceed,  if  it 
reaches,  three  or  four  inches,  and  to  the  size  of  the 
rounded  leaves,  which  are  clustered  just  above  the 
ground,  but  its  dainty  grace  warrants  the  enthusi- 
asm indicated  by  the  generic  name,  which  signifies 
"single  delight."  Then,  too  the  plant's  intrinsic 
charm  is  not  lessened  by  its  choice  of  surround- 
ings. In  the  dense  shade  of  the  evergreen  forest, 
where  we  hardly  expect  to  find  any  plants  in 
flower,  little  companies  of  these  pure  blossoms 
nod  above  the  red-brown,  leaf-strewn  floor. 

Nearly  related  to  Moneses  are  the  actual  pyro- 
las,  lily-of-the-valley-like  plants,  which  we  find 
Pyroias  hanging  out  their  pretty,  waxen  bells  along  the 
Tma^SlS~  shaded  road-side,  as  well  as  in  the  deeper  woods. 
The  two  most  attractive  members  of  the  group,  at 
least  in  my  experience,  are  the  familiar  shin-leaf, 
and  the  round-leaved  species,  the  latter  easily  rec- 
ognized by  its  leathery,  shining  foliage.     In  these 

86 


"THE    LEAFY    MONTH    OF   JUNE" 

two  species  the  long,  curved  pistil  which  protrudes 
from  the  flowers  easily  distinguishes  them  from 
their  cousin  the  pipsissewa.  This  latter  plant 
we  can  recognize  by  means  ot  the  violet-colored 
anthers  of  its  fragrant  flowers,  and  by  its  glossy, 
evergreen  leaves. 

No  other  heaths  do  so  much  for  the  general 
reputation  of  the  family  as  the  laurels  and  rhodo-  Momdam- 
dendrons.  The  mountain-laurel  reaches  perfec- 
tion during  the  latter  half  of  June.  Where  it 
grows,  the  wood-openings  look  like  great  drifts  of 
snow,  the  snow  of  an  Alpine  dawn,  for  often  in 
sunny  places  the  flowers  of  the  mountain  laurel 
are  pure  rose-color,  though  in  the  deeper  woods 
they  are  white. 

The  thick,  glossy  leaves  form  an  effective  back- 
ground to  the  dense  clusters  of  wholesome-looking 
flowers.  Perhaps  the  firm,  fluted,  pink-tinged 
buds  are  even  prettier  than  the  blossoms.  Pick  a  Itsfertili- 
freshly  opened  cluster  and  observe  that  each  of  *  ' 
the  ten  little  bags  of  pollen  is  caught  in  a  separate 
depression  of  the  wheel-shaped  corolla.  Brush 
the  flower,  lightly  but  quickly,  with  your  finger 
or  a  twig,  and  you  see  that  the  bags  are  dislodged 
by  the  jar  with  such  force  that  your  finger  is 
thickly  dusted  with  pollen,  and  you  understand 
how  the  visiting  bee  unconsciously  transmits  the 
precious  grains  from  flower  to  flower. 

87 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 


Perhaps  the  wax-like,  delicately  spotted  flowers 

of  the   rhododendron  are  even   handsomer  than 

Rhododen-    those  of  the  laurel,  but  in  our  northern  latitude 

they  are  far  less  abundant  and  much  less  luxuriant 

in  their  manner  of  growth. 

Often  in  company  with  the  mountain-laurel  and 
the  rhododendron,  but  commonly  in  less  exclusive 
Sheep-iau-  haunts,  we  find  the  sheep-laurel  or  lambkill,  a 
somewhat  straggling  little  shrub  with  pale,  nar- 
rowly oblong  leaves  and  clusters  of  pink  or  red- 
dish blossoms.  They  are  fresh,  vigorous-looking 
flowers,  specially  effective  when  massed  against 
the  gray  rocks  of  the  seashore,  among  clumps  of 
bay-berry  and  wild-rose  bushes. 

An  interesting  flower,  due  in  early  June,  is  the 
Arethusa,  one  of  the  orchid  family.  Its  usual 
home  is  a  cranberry-swamp,  and  the  ones  I  have 
had  the  good-fortune  to  find  were  growing  near 
groups  of  young  larches,  for  whose  companionship 
I  believe  they  are  known  to  have  a  special  liking. 
The  blossom  has  been  described  as  "  crystalline 
Arethusa  purple."  It  crowns  a  slender  stalk  which  bears 
below  a  single  grass-like  leaf.  The  narrow  sepals 
and  petals  arch  above  the  petal-like  columns.  The 
dilated  lip  is  yellow-bearded.  The  flower  has  a 
startled,  alert  look,  as  though  it  were  pricking  its 
delicate  ears  in  alarm  at  some  rude  intrusion. 
That  I  have  not  detected  the  fragrance  which  is 


PLATE    XVI 


CANCER   ROOT 

iphyllon  unifljrum 


"THE    LEAFY    MONTH    OF   JUN1 

said  to  belong  to  the  Arethusa  may  be  owing 
only  to  my  tardiness,  for  I  have  never  found  lid- 
till  some  time  after  her  Legitimate  blossoming 
season.  The  remoteness  of  her  haunts  has  put 
her  usually  out  of  my  reach,  and  she  still  remains 
an  incentive  to  greater  punctuality  next  year,  and 
a  stimulant  to  the  eagerness  aroused  by  each  ap- 
proaching spring. 

Another  of  the  many  fascinating  inhabitants  of 
the  cranberry-swamps  is  the  pitcher-plant.  In  I 
Maine  I  found  it  in  great  quantities  budding  and  ^h"1 
in  full  bloom  on  June  14th  of  this  year,  which 
means  that  farther  south  it  was  due  one  or  two 
weeks  earlier.  At  this  time  all  the  flowers  were 
hanging  their  heads,  showing  only  the  lower  sur- 
faces of  their  sepals,  "a  shiny  leather-red  or 
brown-red"  in  color,  "  looking  as  if  newlv 
varnished,  very  rich  and  pleasant  to  the  eye," 
writes  Thoreau.  When  examined  more  closely, 
the  inside  of  the  sepals  are  seen  to  be  green.  The 
petals  are  red  and  extremely  delicate  in  texture, 
suggesting  "  a  great,  dull-red  rose."  At  this  early 
stage  of  the  plant's  development  the  only  mature 
leaves  seem  to  be  those  left  over  from  the  pre- 
vious year,  looking  rusty  and  worn  outside,  but 
perfectly  water-tight,  filled  to  the  brim  with  water 
in  which  float  the  bodies  of  many  drowned  in- 
sects. 

89 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

Although  it  may  be  found  during  the  first  part 
of  July,  to  this  month  of  June  belongs,  I  think, 
the  most  regal  of  our  orchids,  the  showy  lady's- 
slipper.  Its  favorite  home  is  a  somewhat  shaded 
peat- bog.  Here  the  great,  leafy-stemmed  plants, 
with  their  lovely  pink  and  white  shell-like  flowers, 
seem  to  reach  their  fullest  development.  There 
is  something  almost  tropical  in  their  lavish,  luxuri- 
ant beauty.  Fortunately  their  chosen  haunts  are 
usually  somewhat  inaccessible,  so,  despite  the 
great  bunches  which  are  exhibited  for  sale  by 
energetic  farmers'  boys  at  New  England  inns  and 
country  houses,  there  is  still  reason  to  hope  that 
they  will  not  be  completely  exterminated. 

One  of  the  smallest  and  loveliest  of  the  wood- 
loving  plants  of  June  is  the  twin-flowers  Linncea 
borealis,  the  tiny 

— "  monument  of  the  man  of  flowers." 

Often  as  I  stroll  along  the  wood-path,  my  body 
only  under  the  trees,  perhaps,  my  thoughts  wander- 
ing elsewhere,  I  am  recalled  to  myself  by  a  fresh, 
penetrating  odor,  and  I  see  the  carpet  of  small, 
rounded  leaves  and  thread-like  forking  stems 
which  are  hung  with  the  pink-veined  sister-blos- 
soms. The  twin-flower  shares  the  faculty  pos- 
sessed by  Moneses  of  choosing  attractive  surround- 
ings.    It  likes  to  cover  the  mossy  banks  of  shaded 

90 


"THE    LEAFY    MONTH    OF    JUNE" 

streams  and  to  till  the  hollows  formed  by  the 
great  roots  of  the  forest  trees.  The  most  seques- 
tered nooks  we  chance  upon  in  our  explorations 
of  the  northern  woods  in  June  are  likely  to  be 
adorned  by  the  pink  bells  of  the  Linn&a. 

Another  wood-plant,  a  little  less  fastidious,  per- 
haps, in  its  choice  of  locality,  is  the  Indian  cucum-  Indian 
ber-root,  or  Mcdeola.  This  is  rather  an  unusual-  root 
looking  plant,  delicate  and  graceful,  with  small 
green  or  yellowish,  lily-like  flowers  which  droop 
from  the  summit  of  a  slender  stem.  Directly  be- 
neath the  flower-cluster  grows  a  whorl  of  ovate, 
pointed  leaves ;  still  farther  down,  the  stem  is 
again  encircled  by  another  whorl  consisting  of 
more  and  larger  leaves.  The  plant  is  less  effective 
now  than  later  in  the  summer,  when  its  erect, 
purple  berries  and  gayly  painted  leaves  are  sure  to 
attract  the  eye.  I  have  never  tasted  the  tuberous 
root,  which  is  said  to  have  a  cucumber-like  flavor 
and  to  have  been  used  as  food  by  the  Indians. 

Even  in  midwinter  we  can  go  to  the  woods, 
and,  brushing  away  the  snow  from  about  the  roots  Partridge- 
of  some  old  tree,  find  the  shining,  white-veined 
leaves  and  coral-like  berries  of  the  partridge- vine. 
But  this  is  the  season  when  wre  should  make  a 
special  pilgrimage  to  some  dim  retreat  which  is 
pervaded  with  the  fragance  of  its  lovely  white  or 
pinkish  twin  blossoms. 

91 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

Among  fallen,  moss-grown  tree-trunks  we  find 
the  clover-like  leaflets  and  pink-veined  flowers  of 
the  true  wood-sorrel.  These  flowers  are  strikingly 
large  in  proportion  to  the  rest  of  the  plant.  The 
pale  green  foliage  is  singularly  fresh  and  delicate. 
One  is  not  surprised  to  learn  that  it  was  a  favorite 
plant  of  the  old  Italian  painters,  and  that  its  dainty 
symmetry  appealed  especially  to  Fra  Angelico. 

So  frequent  and  enchanting  are  the  revelations 
which  await  us  these  days  that,  to  the  man  or 
woman  with  unburdened  mind  and  enlightened 
vision,  a  country  ramble  is  one  of  the  most  perfect 
of  pleasures.  Then  there  are  days  when  the  odor- 
laden  winds  seem  to  have  some  narcotic  power, 
lulling  to  inertia  all  energy  and  ambition  ;  days 
when  the  drowsily  witnessed  voyage  of  a  butter- 
fly, or  the  half-heard  song  of  a  wood-thrush,  or 
even  the  dreamy  consciousness  of  the  rhythmical 
development  of  life  about  us — the  measured  suc- 
cession of  bud,  flower,  and  fruit — seems  a  sufficient 
end  in  itself. 

It  is  easier  to  resist  this  influence  if  we  keep  to 
the  road.  Once  we  are  led  away  by  some  wind- 
ing pretence  of  a  path,  each  leafy  curve  of  which 
is  more  enticing  than  the  last,  we  are  apt  to  yield 
ourselves  to  the  simple  charm  of  being.  But  on 
the  road  we  are  more  practical,  more  self-con- 
scious. We  cease  entirely  to  be  self-conscious  only 

92 


"THE    LEAFY    MONTH    OF   JUNE" 

when  there  is  no  chance  of  human  interruption. 
On  the  road  a  farm-wagon  may  overtake  us  at 
any  moment,  and  we  feel  that,  to  the  bovine  mind, 
even  the  foolish  occupation  of  picking  flowers 
seems  more  intelligent  than  the  abandonment  of 
one's  self  to  joy  in  the  blue  of  the  sky  or  in  the 
breath  of  summer. 

Among  the  shrubs  which  flower  in  June,  the  vi- 
burnums and  the  dogwoods  are  noticeable.  The  Vibur- 
somewhat  flat  flower-clusters  of  the  viburnums  arc  ^1 
made  up  of  small,  white,  five-lobed  blossoms,  the 
little  flowers  of  the  superficially  similar  dogwoods 
consisting  of  four  petals.  The  leaves  of  most  of 
the  viburnums  are  more  or  less  conspicuously 
toothed,  while  those  of  the  dogwoods  are  entire. 
The  withe-rod,  V.  cassinoides,  a  shrub  which  I 
find  growing  abundantly  along  the  coast  and  in 
the  woods  of  northern  New  England,  is  an  ex- 
ception to  this  rule,  its  thick,  smooth,  ovate  or 
oblong  leaves  being  toothed  only  very  little  or 
not  at  all. 

Along  grassy  lanes  the  wild-grape  swings  its 
graceful  festoons.  The  air  is  heavy  with  the  sweet  Climbing 
breath  of  its  greenish  flowers.  Near  by  twist  the  ^^ 
prickly  stems,  shining  ornamental  leaves,  and 
greenish  blossoms  of  the  cat-brier.  The  carrion- 
vine,  too,  sends  forth  its  delicate  young  shoots, 
but  the  foul  odor  of  its  dull,  clustered  blossoms, 

93 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

which  has  attracted  all  the  carrion-liking  flies  in 
the  neighborhood,  drives  us  hurriedly  from  its 
vicinity. 

Over  the  rocks  and  about  the  trunks  and  close 
branches  of  slim  cedars  twine  the  stout  stems  and 
glossy  leaves  of  the  poison-ivy.  If  we  are  wise,  we 
tarry  here  no  longer  than  by  the  carrion-vine,  for 
the  small  white  flowers,  now  fully  open,  are  said 
to  give  forth  peculiarly  poisonous  emanations. 

Flat  rosettes  of  purple-veined  leaves  and  tall 
clusters  of  dandelion-like  flower-heads  abound  by 
the  dusty  highway.  The  striped  leaves  suggested 
the  markings  of  the  rattlesnake  to  some  imagina- 
tive mind,  and  so  the  plant  has  been  dubbed 
"  rattlesnake  weed,"  and  the  superstitious  have 
used  it  as  a  cure  for  the  bites  of  the  rattlesnake. 
Narrow  leaves  and  pretty,  spotted  flowers  on  hair- 
like stalks  grow  in  many  circles  about  the  slender 
stems  of  the  yellow  loosestrife. 

The  blackberry  vines  wreathe  everything  with- 
in reach  with  their  graceful  branches  and  large, 
delicate  flowers.  The  slender,  light-blue  clusters 
of  the  larger  skull-cap  are  beginning  to  be  notice- 
able. Through  the  grasses  glistens  the  wet  scarlet 
of  wild-strawberries.  In  the  thicket  are  shrubs, 
whose  green  buds  are  still  too  firmly  closed  for  us 
to  guess  their  names,  unless  we  chance  to  recog- 
nize their  leaves.     There  is  always  something  to 

94 


"THE    LEAFY    MONTH    OF   JUNE" 

look  forward  to — something  to  come  back  for — 
even  along  the  road  side. 
June  divides  with  May  the  honors  ol   the  song 

and  nesting  season.  If  we  admit  that  June  has 
fewer  nests,  we  are  inclined  to  claim  for  her  more  .W\ 
songs.  Almost  any  early  morning  in  June  the  "'/j'",? 
neighborhood  of  a  garden,  orchard,  or  field  will 
supply  us  with  a  bird  concert  of  great  beauty 
and  variety.  Of  course,  the  quality  of  the  indi- 
vidual singers  is  largely  governed  by  the  latitude. 
In  the  neighborhood  of  Albany,  for  example,  be- 
sides those  birds  already  mentioned,  I  expect  to 
hear  the  warbling  of  yellow-throated  vireos,  of  the 
grosbeak,  scarlet  tanager,  indigo-bird,  gold-finch, 
and  redstart,  of  the  black-throated  green,  yellow, 
and  other  warblers.  In  the  mountains  and  far- 
ther north  (I  am  thinking  especially  of  the  Maine 
coast)  two  of  the  thrushes,  the  olive-backed  and 
the  hermit,  are  noticeable.  The  song  of  the  olive-  OUve- 
backed  thrush  varies  greatly.  At  times  it  is  really  (husb 
melodious,  but  it  has  a  throaty  quality  which 
detracts  from  its  charm.  It  lacks  the  purity  and 
sweetness  so  striking  in  the  songs  of  the  wood 
and  hermit  thrushes.  It  is  longer,  less  interrupted, 
and  less  definite  in  its  phrasing  than  these  other 
songs.  Indeed,  it  hardly  seems  to  me  a  song  at 
all  ;  more  actually  a  fairly  melodious  out  bins!  of 
emotion.     The  bird  is  usually  a  trifle  smaller  than 

95 


ACCORDING   TO   SEASON 


the  wood-thrush  and  equally  larger  than  the 
hermit.  Its  olive-brown  head,  bill,  and  tail,  and 
its  unspotted  throat  help  to  identify  it. 

The  song  of  the  hermit-thrush  is  a  marvel  of 
Hermit-  sweetness  and  spirituality,  with  the  hymn-like 
thrush  quality  so  noticeable  in  that  of  the  wood-thrush. 
But  it  is  much  shorter,  and  less  of  an  actual  song 
than  one  would  suppose  from  the  usual  descrip- 
tions. Commonly  I  hear  it  repeated  twice  with  a 
very  brief  interval  of  time,  in  different  keys,  the 
second  higher  than  the  first.  After  a  longer  inter- 
val the  repetition  takes  place  again,  and  continues 
indefinitely.  Both  birds  belong  to  the  deeper 
woods,  their  songs  reaching  one  from  some 
shadowy  seclusion  where  they  can  be  traced  with 
difficulty. 

One  of  the  attractive  possibilities  of  a  wood- 
Partridges  walk  in  June  is  the  flushing  of  a  covey  of  partridges. 
The  thrill  of  excitement  as  the  whirr  of  their 
wings  strikes  our  ears  is  enhanced  by  the  probable 
dash  of  the  mother-bird  across  our  path,  with 
trailing  wing  and  every  appearance  of  serious 
injury,  in  the  effort,  usually  successful,  to  distract 
our  attention  from  the  young  chicks,  which  scurry 
away  in  another  direction.  The  brown  and  white 
markings  of  these  birds  blend  so  perfectly  with 
the  leaf-strewn,  sun-flecked  ground,  and  with  the 
brown  twigs  and  tree-trunks,  that  were  it   not 

96 


PLATE   XVII 


PINK  AZALEA 

Rhododendron  nudtflorum 


THE    LEAFY    MONTH    OF   JUNE" 


for  their  panic  we   would   hardly   discover  their 
proximity. 

But  the  June  woods  are  full  of  possibilities  in 
every  direction.     A  song  till  now  unheard,  a  new   /w,/, 
nest,  a  rare  flower,  are  only  a  few  of  the  main- 
rewards  we  may  hope  to  win  if  we  are  patient  and 
loving  seekers. 


tics 


97 


VIII 
A    LONG    ISLAND    MEADOW 


O  unestranged  birds  and  bees! 
O  face  of  nature  always  true  ! 

—Lowell 


VIII 
A    LONG    ISLAND    MEADOW 

Its  entrance  is  barred  by  lichen-covered  rails.  Ti.v  m- 
Close  by,  a  tall  willow  stands  sentinel.  The  fence 
beyond  is  almost  hidden  by  a  thicket  of  wild- 
roses  and  elder-bushes.  Against  the  bars  crowds 
a  host  of  "weeds"  —  burdock,  wild-carrot,  ele- 
campane, and  sorrel.  But  one  feels  that  these  are 
interlopers  and  have  little  in  common  with  the 
more  retiring  inhabitants  of  the  meadow  which 
lies  fresh  and  glistening  in  the  sunlight,  swaying 
with  every  breath  of  wind,  darkening  with  each 
cloud  that  floats  overhead,  untracked  and  tempt- 
ing. We  need  only  to  glance  at  such  a  meadow 
as  this — and  there  are  hundreds  like  it  along  our  A  mini  a- 

i  -n    i  i  Li  'ltrc'  world 

coast — to  guess  that  it  will  be  many  days  belore 
its  treasures  are  even  half  discovered.  It  is  a 
miniature  world,  with  grassy  uplands  and  quak- 
ing bogs,  with  stretches  of  water  and  wooded 
islands.  Each  part  of  this  little  world  has  its 
individual  secrets  to  reveal,  its  own  wealth  of 
plant  and  animal  life. 

Beyond  the  invading  weeds  is  a  thick  growth 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

of  cinnamon-ferns  which  do  not  seem  happy  in 
their  surroundings,  a  fact  accounted  for  when  we 
notice  that  here  the  meadow  is  a  dry  marsh,  not 
affording  the  ferns  sufficient  nourishment  for  their 
full  development.  They  hold  themselves  rigid 
and  erect,  and  are  quite  without  the  grace  and 
stateliness  for  which  usually  they  are  conspicu- 
ous. The  woolly -stemmed,  cinnamon -colored 
fruit-clusters  which  spring  from  the  centre  of  the 
plant  are  now  withered  and  either  cling  to  the 
stalks  of  the  green  fronds  or  lie  upon  the  ground. 

Scattered  among  the  cinnamon-ferns  are  clus- 
ters of  the  royal  fern,  a  kinsman  that  appears 
equally  ill  at  ease.  Its  stature  is  stunted  and  its 
uncompromising  air  fails  to  suggest  the  bearing 
which  won  for  it  the  title  of  royal  fern. 

The  interrupted  fern,  the  other  member  of 
what  is,  perhaps,  our  most  distinguished  group 
of  native  ferns,  the  osmundas,  grows  back  against 
the  fence.  It  seems  somewhat  less  affected  by 
its  environment,  although  the  erect  fronds  which 
fruit  half  way  up  the  midrib,  set,  as  it  were,  in 
a  vase  formed  by  the  shorter,  outward-curving, 
sterile  fronds,  are  less  noticeable  for  their  height 
than  when  found  under  conditions  more  to  their 
liking. 

High  above  these  dwarfed  representatives  of 
a  royal  family  shoot  the  tall  white  wands  of  the 

102 


PLATE    XVII 


COTTON-GRASS 

Lnophrum  Virginicum  and  K  gracih 


A    LONG    ISLAND    MKADOW 

colic-root.  At  the  first  glance,  one  unfamiliar 
with  this  plant  might  confuse  its  long  clusters 
with  the  twisted  spikes  of  the  ladies'  tresses.  A 
closer  examination  would  reveal  no  likeness  be-  Cotir-root 
tween  the  flower  of  the  orchid  and  the  six- 
lobed  blossom  of  the  colic-root,  with  its  six 
stamens,  its  three-cleft  pistil,  and  its  look  of  beings 
dusted  with  white  meal.  Then,  too,  the  flat  ro- 
sette of  lance-shaped  leaves  from  which  springs 
the  white  wand  of  flowers,  is  peculiar  to  this  plant. 

Over  the  moss  which  carpets  this  ferny  upland 
the  running  swamp-blackberry  trails  its  reddish  Running 
stems,  with  their  smooth,  thick  leaves  and  its  ber-  JJSlw 
ries  still  green.  Here  and  there  we  find  its  white 
blossom.  It  is  a  decorative  plant  and  one  is 
tempted  to  carry  home  certain  long,  lithe  strands 
which  bear  at  the  same  time  flowers  and  fruit. 

Now  the  land  slopes  downward.  The  grasses 
and  sedges  wear  that  rich  green  which  warns  us 
to  look  out  for  a  swamp.  It  is  not  easy  to  be 
cautious,  for  suddenly  we  get  a  glimpse  of  some 
vivid  purplish-pink  flowers  which  grow  in  singu- 
larly airy  clusters  on  a  slender  stem.  An  orchid 
is  always  a  "  find,"  and  we  recognize  with  delight 
one  of  our  most  radiant  orchids,  the  grass-pink  or  Grass- 
calopogon,  which  is  fairly  illuminating  this  part  *)Ul 
of  the  meadow  with  its  countless  blossoms. 

The  grass-pink  differs  from  other  members  of 
103 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

its  family  in  that  the  lip,  with  its  beard  of  white, 
yellow,  and  purple  hairs,    stands   on   the    upper 

Peculiarity  instead  of  on  the  lower  side  of  the  flower.     This 

orchid  peculiarity  it  owes  to  the  fact  that  its  ovary  has 
not  the  twist  habitual  to  orchids.  Despite  the 
difference  of  position  in  that  part  of  the  flower 
which  is  specially  designed  to  attract  insects,  the 
grass-pink  is  as  well  fitted  as  its  sisters  to  secure 
cross-fertilization,  as  a  careful  study  of  its  inter- 
nal structure  will  prove. 

Here  the  meadow  becomes  a  bog.  High  rub- 
ber boots  are  necessary  as  a  protection  from  the 
water  and  black  mud  in  which  they  sink  so  deep 

In  the  hog  that  it  is  a  question  as  to  how  long  they  will  be 
of  any  service.  The  grasses  grow  tall  and  rank 
and  gleaming.  Pools  of  black  water  alternate 
with  little  islands  where  the  marsh  shield-fern 
holds  itself  well  out  of  the  wet,  its  segments 
growing  high  up  on  the  stem  as  though  trying  to 

Marsh  keep  dry  under  discouraging  conditions.  If  you 
pick  one  of  its  delicate  fronds  (if  you  happen  to 
be  an  observer  of  ferns)  you  are  struck  with  its 
resemblance  to  another  fern  which  abounds  along 
the  road-side,  but  which  differs  from  this  in  that 
its  lowest  segments  grow  gradually  very  much 
shorter,  so  that  its  frond  really  tapers  both  ways 
from  the  middle,  while  here  the  tapering  at  the 
lower  part  of  the  frond  is  very  slight.     Then,  too, 

104 


shield-fern 


A    LONG    ISLAND    MI  A  DOW 


you  observe  that  in  this  fern  the  stalk  is  usually 
longer  than  the  rest  of  the  frond,  and  that  in  cer- 
tain cases  the  segments  have  a  curled-over  ap- 
pearance, partially  accounted  for  when  you  dis- 
cover that  these  curled-over  ferns  bear  on  their 
backs  the  little  round  fruit-dots  which  are  not 
found  on  the  other  flatter  fronds.  Once  you  are 
familiar  with  these  distinguishing  traits  of  the 
marsh  shield-fern,  you  are  not  likely  to  confuse 
it  with  its  equally  ubiquitous  kinsman,  the  New 
York  shield-fern. 

In  and  out  among  the  ferns  creep  the  cranberry-  Gradbtr- 
vines.      An  occasional  rose-pink,  four-cleft  bios-  rus 
som  still  nods  from  an  erect,  leafy  stem,  although 
everywhere  hang  the  green  berries,  some  of  them 
already  with  sunburned  cheeks. 

Here,  too,  we  find  that  rarely  lovely  orchid, 
the  adder's  mouth.  The  plant  itself  is  smaller  Adder's 
than  that  of  the  grass-pink,  but  the  rose-colored, 
fragrant  flower  which  usually  nods  alone  from 
the  summit  of  the  stem  is  quite  as  large  as  are 
the  blossoms  of  its  neighbor. 

Far  beneath  the  silvery  pennons  of  the  cotton- 
grass,  down  in  the  black  mud,  perhaps  in  the  FUm 
water  itself,  grows  a  curious,  pretty  little  plant, 
the  round-leaved  sundew,  with  its  rosette  of  glis- 
tening, red-haired  leaves  and  its  unfolding  crosier 
of  flower-buds,  which  open  one  at  a  time,  and  then 

105 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

only  in  the  sunlight,  displaying  a  small,  white, 
five-petalled  blossom. 

The  black  bog-land  is  fairly  carpeted  with  this 
Leaves  of  plant,  which  gives  a  jewelled  look  to  the  under- 
world of  the  meadow.  It  is  but  slightly  fastened 
in  the  moist  earth,  and  it  is  worth  our  while  to 
uproot  it  and  make  a  study  of  its  delicately 
spangled  leaves. 

These  are  nearly  round,  narrowing  somewhat 
abruptly  into  the  flat  stems.  Each  leaf  bears  a 
multitude  of  small  red  hairs,  as  many  at  times  as 
two  hundred  to  a  leaf.  These  hairs  are  tipped 
with  what  seem  to  be  tiny  dew-drops,  but  which 
are  in  reality  particles  of  a  sticky  fluid  exuded  by 
the  hairs  for  the  purpose  of  capturing  insects. 

The  young  leaves  are  rolled  in  the  bud,  or 
partially  unrolled  after  the  fashion  of  young  fern 
fronds.  Others  are  fully  open,  each  hair  spar- 
kling with  its  jewelled  tip.  Still  others  look 
withered,  and  black  particles  seem  to  be  held  in 
the  depression  of  the  leaf-blade. 

One  must  be  familiar  with  the  habits  of  the 
sundew  to  know  that  these  black  particles  are  the 
remains  of  the  bodies  of  insects  which  have  been 
attracted  to  the  leaf  by  the  apparent  presence  of 
Capture  of  drops  of  nectar.  In  these  drops  their  legs  are  first 
caught;  then  the  red  hairs  bend  slowly  over  and 
imprison  still  more  helplessly  the  little  body,  which 

106 


A    LONG    ISLAND    MKADOW 

is  soon  lifeless.  A  digestive  fluid  is  now  exuded 
from  the  hairs,  and  the  flesh  and  blood  are  ab- 
sorbed by  the  plant,  which  leaves  undigested  only 
the  bony  portions  that  form  the  particles  left  upon 
the  surface  of  the  leaf.  Two  days  arc  said  to  be 
sufficient  for  the  total  absorption  of  the  digestible 
parts  of  the  body  of  a  very  small  insect.  After  this 
absorption  is  accomplished,  the  leaf  and  the  hairs 
slowly  recover  their  former  position.  Within  a 
day  or  two,  fresh  drops  of  the  deceptive  fluid  are 
exuded,  and  the  murderous  work  begins  anew. 
One  leaf  may  capture  many  prisoners.  Ants,  flies, 
beetles,  and  even  butterflies  are  numbered  among 
the  victims  of  this  little  plant. 

Of  the  three  species  of  sundew  native  to  this 
part  of  the  country,  I  find  two  here,  the  round-  T~u>>iut:: 
leaved  and  the  oblong-leaved,  the  latter  notice- 
able from  its  habit  of  raising  itself  upon  its  root, 
so  as  not  to  be  submerged  when  growing  in  the 
water. 

Springing  directly  out  of  the  black  pools  which 
the  sundews  border  is  a  slender,  usually  leafless 
stem,  bearing  a  yellow  flower  with  a  projecting, 
helmet-shaped  lip.  In  the  water  at  the  base  of  the 
stem  float  little,  awl-shaped  leaves,  fastened  to 
which  are  a  number  of  tiny  sacs  or  bladders.  This 
is  the  bladderwort,  a  plant  which  would  naturally 
find  the  neighborhood  of  the  sundew  congenial, 

107 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 


Bladder- 
wort 


Pipe-wort 


Mossy 
hummocks 


as  it  is  another  of  the  insect-eating  group.  Its 
bladders  are  so  small  as  to  give  no  hint  of  the 
death-traps  that  they  are,  but  a  careful  look  into 
their  interiors  will  discover  the  remains  of  insects 
lured  to  their  destruction  as  cleverly  and  as 
surely  as  are  the  victims  of  the  sundew.  Each 
bladder  is  furnished  with  a  door  which  opens 
inward.  It  is  supposed  that  insects  when  pur- 
sued by  enemies  seek  its  shelter,  rushing  into 
involuntary  imprisonment,  as  the  door  by  which 
they  entered  will  not  open  outward.  They  die 
from  starvation  or  suffocation,  and  specially 
adapted  cells  of  the  bladder  absorb  the  particles 
of  their  decomposed  bodies. 

Close  to  the  bladderwort,  where  the  pools  widen 
into  miniature  lakes,  a  multitude  of  slender  stems 
tipped  with  white  knobs  rise  from  the  water. 
These  white-knobbed  stems  belong  to  the  seven- 
angled  pipewort,  a  curious  little  plant  that  bears 
its  minute  blossoms  closely  clustered  in  the  knobs 
which  first  attracted  our  attention.  Its  thread- 
like leaves,  tufted  at  the  base  of  the  stem,  are 
partly  out  of  sight  under  the  water. 

All  about  us  are  mossy  hummocks  where  cran- 
berry and  swamp  blackberry  vines  interlace  their 
spreading  strands;  where  the  marsh  shield-fern 
and  the  sensitive  fern  contend  for  standing-room  ; 
where  the  aromatic  leaves  ol  the  bayberry  bask 

108 


A    LONG   ISLAND    MEADOW 

in  the  sunshine,  and  the  dull  spikes  of  the  ragged- 
fringed  orchis  erect  themselves  with  inconspicu- 
ous grace,  their  small  flowers  not  impressing 
the  eye,  although  already  the  individual,  deeply 
fringed  blossoms  deserve  more  than  passing  no- 
tice. 

Wandering  among  these  chosen  footholds  of 
the  ragged-fringed  orchis  is  a  narrow,  sluggish 
stream,  almost  hidden  from  sight  by  clumps  of 
royal  fern  and  by  thickets  of  wild-roses  and  aza- 
leas. Here  the  three-toothed  orchis  is  in  bud.  At  Thru- 
first  it  seems  likely  that  this  is  another  species,  as  ^^im 
the  botanists  assign  Habenaria  trident  at  a  to  "  wet 
woods,"  but  later  a  careful  analysis  of  a  full-blown 
blossom  confirms  me  in  my  first  conjecture.  The 
botanical  description,  "  stem,  slender ;  leaf,  single, 
oblong  ;  flowers,  greenish  or  whitish,  very  small ; 
lip,  wedge-oblong,  truncate,  and  with  three  short 
teeth  at  apex,  the  slender  and  slightly  club-shaped 
spur  curved  upward,  longer  than  the  ovary ;  root, 
of  few  fleshy  fibres,"  seems  to  apply  satisfactorily 
to  this  little  plant,  with  a  possible  exception  in  the 
case  of  the  "  very  small  "  flowers,  the  blossoms 
which  make  up  these  spikes  being  small,  but  not 
exceptionally  so. 

We  have  crossed  the  meadow  and  reached  a 
tangled  thicket  of  alder  and  bayberry  bushes,  of 
wild-roses,  with  a  few  delicate  blossoms  still  open 

109 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

to  the  bees  and  sunshine,  of  white  swamp  honey- 
Across  the  suckle,  even  yet  bearing  some  fragrant  clusters, 
meadow  an(j  Q£  cietjtra^  whose  green,  budding  spikes  hold 
fast  their  treasure  of  beauty  and  fragrance.  Out 
of  sight  a  cat-bird  is  mewing  discordantly,  and  on 
some  lower  twigs  a  Maryland  yellow-throat,  with 
bright  yellow  body  and  black  cheeks,  hops  busily 
about.  A  swallow  flies  close  above  our  heads, 
through  the  sweet,  sunny  air.  Across  the  thicket 
comes  the  ever-recurrent  sighing  of  the  sea. 

Now  the  land  rises  and  we  are  on  terra  fir  ma 
once  more.  Here  the  pasture-thistles  hold  up 
their  superb  purple  flower-heads,  and  farther  on 
we  see  reddish  patches  that  prove  to  be  the 
meadow-beauty,  sometimes  called  Kentucky  grass. 
The  flower  is  an  attractive  one,  noticeable  from 
its  large  rounded  red-purple  petals,  and  from  its 
eight  protruding  stamens,  each  of  which  is  tipped 
with  a  long  curved  yellow  anther. 

In  this  corner  of  the  meadow  we  find  tall  brakes 
and  light-green  sensitive  ferns  in  abundance.  If  we 
Brakes  and  push  aside  the  sterile  fronds  of  the  latter,  thefruit- 
*fan™e      clusters  of  this  year  and  the  brown  empty  pods 
of  those  of  last  year  are  soon  discovered,  although 
these  clusters  here,  as  nearly  always,  are  so  hid- 
den from  sight  as  to  be  a  novelty  to  most  people. 
I  think  it  is  Mr.  Bradford  Torrey  who  says  that 
when  he  goes  to  walk  as  a  botanist  his  ornitho- 

IIO 


PLATE  XIX 


STEEPLE-BUSH 

Spircea  tomentosa 


A    LONG    ISLAND    MEADOW 

logical  senses  are  sealed.     He    is   alive    only    to  Bot.i, 
plants.     He  neither  sees  nor  hears  the  birds.     And, 
vice  versa,   when  he  goes  bird-hunting,  the  green 
growing  things  about  have  no  definite  existence 
for  him. 

This  tendency  is  natural  enough  and  may  easily 
be  carried  even  to  greater  lengths.  When  on  the  Partial 
lookout  for  flowers,  it  may  chance  that  not  only  bluulucss 
some  rare  bird  or  brilliant  butterfly  escapes  our 
notice,  but  that  such  plants  as  do  not  flower,  or 
as  do  not  bear  what  we  are  accustomed  to  look 
upon  as  flowers,  fail  utterly  to  arrest  our  atten- 
tion. 

Perhaps  the  reason  for  this  is  that  we  are  more 
apt  to  notice  the  things  about  which  we  have  Our 
some  knowledge,  and  in  this  busy  world  it  is  a  j^SjJ 
difficult  matter  to  know  even  a  little  about  many 
different  things.  So  in  our  walks  abroad  we  con- 
centrate our  attention  upon  our  own  especial 
hobby,  be  this  flowers  or  ferns,  birds  or  butter- 
flies. 

But  in  such  a  spot  as  this,  to  one  who  has  con-  Inadequacy 
fined  himself  to  a  single  hobby,  there  comes  a 
sense  of  limitation,  of  painful  inadequacy,  which 
spurs  him  to  the  resolve  to  strive  after  broader 
knowledge,  or,  for  it  is  the  same  thing,  broader 
enjoyment.  At  least  some  such  experience  as 
this  has  been  mine  during  the  hours  I  have  lately 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

passed  in  this  meadow.  The  flowers,  nearly  all 
of  them,  are  old  friends.  The  ferns,  too,  are  not 
strangers.  But  as  to  the  names  and  habits  of 
these    beautiful,   grass-like,   sedge-like,   rush-like 

Strangers  things  that  wave  and  float  and  sway  above  the 
flowers,  above  the  ferns,  I  was  almost  entirely  at 
sea.  For  years  I  had  meant  to  make  a  study  of 
the  grasses  and  sedges,  but  the  empty  days  they 
were  designed  to  fill  slipped  farther  and  farther 
into  the  future,  and  here  I  was  among  a  host  of 
lovely,  tantalizing  creatures  who  were  quite  name- 
less. I  hurried  home  from  my  first  visit  to  the 
meadow  with  the  determination  to  learn  from 
some  book  at  least  the  names  of  the  strangers. 
With  the  happy  confidence  of  ignorance,  I  felt 
assured  that  by  another  day  I  should  feel  more  at 
home  among  them. 

But  my  confidence  was  premature.  The  flower- 
lover  who  seeks  to  know  as  well  as  to  love,  finds 
himself  somewhat  daunted  on  his  first  introduc- 
tion to  "  coherent  "  calyxes,  "  superior  "  ovaries, 
"  deciduous "    sepals,    and    "  parietal  "    placentas. 

Despair!  But  what  are  these  to  "  imbricated  two-ranked 
glumes,"  with  their  "palets"  and  "  lodicules," 
their  "  caryopses "  and  "  ligules  "  ?  It  is  bad 
enough  to  have  the  glumes  "  imbricated,"  but 
when  they  become  "excurrent"  or  "  charta- 
ceous"  or  "  ventricose-scarious-margined"  at  the 


A    LONG    ISLAND    MI.ADOW 

same  time;  when  they  are  so  small  as  to  be  almost 
invisible,  and  when  the  pygmy-like  proportions  of 
"palets"  render  them  absolutely  intangible,  then 
the  seeker  after  superficial  knowledge,  by  means 
of  which  he  hopes  to  satisfy  himself  and  to  astonish 
his  neighbors,  is  reduced  to  despair. 

At  last,  however,  I  did  grasp  the  fact  that 
grasses  are  "usually"  hollow-stemmed  save  at  Grj 
the  joints,  and  that  their  sheathing  leaves  are  and ' sedges 
"split  or  open  on  the  side  opposite  the  blade" 
(what  the  "  hypogynous  "  flowers  "  usually  "  were 
about,  I  refused  even  to  attempt  to  discover), 
and  that  sedges  had  "  mostly  "  (but,  oh,  the  ex- 
ceptions in  science)  "  solid  stems  and  closed 
sheaths"  (the  habits  of  their  "spiked,  chiefly 
three-androus  flowers"  I  also  left  religiously 
alone) ;  and  armed  with  this  double  piece  of  in- 
formation, back  I  went  to  the  meadow. 

That  sunny,  breezy  morning  almost  the  first 
objects  to  catch  my  eye  were  certain  long- 
stemmed  creatures  tip-toeing  on  a  hummock  near 
the  plantation  of  cinnamon-ferns,  with  ribbon- 
like leaves  apparently  knotted  about  their  necks 
and  floating  on  the  wind.  "A  sedge,  without  Which? 
doubt, "  I  thought,  cutting  reluctantly  one  of 
the  vigorous  stems.  But  an  eager  look  showed 
that  this  was  hollow,  and  another  glance  seemed 
to  prove  that  it  was  not  an  exception.     It  could 

113 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 


Scirpus 
Cyperinus 


Chair- 
maker's 

rush 


not  be  a  grass,  as  its  "  sheathing  leaves "  were 
neither  "  split  nor  open  on  the  side  opposite  the 
blade."     Yet  it  looked  so  easy. 

When  persuaded  that  the  lovely,  rollicking 
thing  was  neither  grass  nor  sedge,  I  found  that 
the  family  description  of  rushes  left  the  inside  of 
their  stems  to  the  imagination,  and  so  far  as 
stems  were  concerned  (and  I  began  to  rejoice  in 
my  primitive  method  of  classification)  it  seemed 
to  me  that  I  was  free  to  call  it  a  rush.  So  I 
christened  it  "Moorland  Princess"  and  felt  al- 
most (but  I  will  frankly  admit  not  quite)  as  happy 
as  when  I  learned  later  that  despite  the  mislead- 
ing hollowness  of  its  stem,  my  Moorland  Princess 
was  nevertheless  a  sedge  and  was  legally  entitled 
to  the  not  altogether  euphonious  name  of  Scirpus 
Cyperinus. 

On  the  next  hunt  I  had  better  luck.  Out  of 
the  black  water  where  the  sundews  and  bladder- 
worts  had  laid  their  clever  little  traps,  grows  a 
wilderness  of  triangular,  grass-like  leaves  (as  they 
seemed  to  me),  from  each  of  which,  near  its  nod- 
ding summit,  protrudes  a  bunch  of  brown  knobs. 
It  was  easy  to  see  that  what  looked  like  the 
plant's  leaf  was  its  stem  or  "  culm  "  ;  that  this  was 
"  solid,"  as  the  culm  of  a  sedge  should  be,  and 
"  sharply  triangular,"  as  the  particular  sedge 
called   "chairmaker's    rush"  must   be,   for    after 

114 


A    LONG    ISLAND    MKADOW 

much  reading  of  description  and  consultation  of 
the  plates  in  the  back  of  Gray's  manual,  and  in 
Dr.  Britton's  new,  delightful  book,  which  gives 
us  pictures  of  everything,  the  "  chairmaker's 
rush  "  (although  a  sedge)  I  decided  this  abun- 
dant and  effective  plant  to  be. 

Next  I  discovered  the  identity  of  the  "  smooth  Smooth 
marsh  grass,"  a  tall,  graceful  creature  with  rib-  '"rJsV 
bon-like  leaves,  and  alternate  branching  spikes 
of  flowers,  which  let  out  a  fringe  of  tremulous 
purple  stamens.  Another  abundant  plant  with 
round  stems  and  little  brown  flower-clusters  I 
placed  without  difficulty  among  the  rushes,  and 
identified  as  the  "  common  bog  rush. " 

Other  plants  belonging  to  one  or  another  of 
these  three  groups,  grasses,  sedges,  and  rushes, 
either  by  my  own  efforts  or  with  the  help  of 
wiser  friends,  I  succeeded  later  in  placing  as 
"  panic  grass,"  "  dropseed,"  "  bog  bulrush,"  "  red- 
rooted  Cyperus,"  "  twig-rush,"  etc.,  while  still  Darwm 
others  I  pressed  and  laid  aside  for  future  identi-  grasses 
fication,  trying  to  take  comfort  in  the  thought 
that  even  the  infinitely  patient  Darwin  found 
himself  baffled  by  the  grasses. 

I  think  one  seldom  realizes  more  keenly  the 
swift  flight  of  summer  than  when  watching  the 
changes  which  take  place  in  some  one  clearly 
defined  spot  such  as  this  meadow.     It  seemed  as 

115 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

though  I  had  only  begun  to  revel  in  the  grace  of 
the  grass-pinks  and  adder's  mouths,  when  a  few 
days  of  storm  intervened,  and,  on  my  next  visit, 
The  flight  grass-pinks  and  adder's  mouths  had  vanished, 
of  summer  w^  the  exception  of  here  and  there  some  be- 
lated and  reluctant  blossom.  From  the  mossy 
hummocks  the  ragged-fringed  orchis  had  almost 
disappeared.  Deep  down  among  the  grasses  the 
three-toothed  orchis  had  blossomed  and  begun  to 
wither.  The  little  flower-clusters  of  the  sundew 
had  gone  to  seed,  and  only  here  and  there  could 
be  found  a  solitary  yellow  blossom  of  the  bladder- 
wort.  Cranberries  and  blackberries  had  deep- 
ened in  color,  wild-roses  and  elder-blossoms  had 
given  place  to  hips  and  berries. 

But  above  the  cinnamon-ferns  glowed  spots  of 
orange-red.  From  stately  stems  set  round  with 
TurVs-cap  slender  leaves  nodded  the  burning  blossoms  of 
the  Turk's -cap  lily,  its  long  recurved  sepals 
spotted  with  red-brown,  its  stamens  tipped  with 
pollen-laden  anthers  which  trembled  with  every 
breath  of  wind.  In  all  the  neighborhood  I  have 
not  found  the  wood  or  meadow  lily,  but  their 
places  are  amply  filled  by  these  voluptuous-look- 
ing creatures. 

The  under-world  among  the  sedges,  which  the 
week  before  was  radiant  with  bright-flowered 
orchids,   is   now   enlivened    by   the    red    stems, 

116 


GREAT  BURNET 

ium  ( 'mmdense 


A    LONG    ISLAND    MKADOW 

changing  leaves,  and  dainty  flesh-colored  flowers 

of  the  marsh  St.  Johnswort.     This  little  plant   is  Marsh  St. 

already  taking  on  the  burning  colors  of  the  fall,  JuL 
giving  us  a  foretaste  of  October. 

Near  the  stream  the  spotted  cowbane  sends  up 
its  streaked  stems  and  spreads  the  white  Irregu-  Spotttd 
lar  flower-clusters  that  pronounce  it  akin  to  the 
wild-carrot.     On  its  very  borders  the  pink  spires    s/(V/,/'- 

J  l  '  bush 

of  the  steeple-bush  rise  far  above  their  oblong 
leaves,  whose  woolly  lining  protects  them  from 
the  heavy  moisture  which  rises  at  nightfall  from 
the  surrounding  marsh. 

Perhaps  the  most  noticeable  of  all  the  changes 
in  the  meadow  is  that  which  has  taken  place  on 
almost  every  hummock,  along  the  borders  of  the 
stream  and  especially  in  the  thicket.  Everywhere 
are  the  sharply  toothed,  oblong,  alder-like  leaves 
and  erect  white  flower-clusters  of  the  Clethra.  CUtbra 
The  fragrance  of  these  wax-like  flowers  adds  a 
new  charm  and  freshness  to  the  August  morning. 

Another  conspicuous  arrival  in  the  meadow  is 
the  great  burnet.  This  is  a  tall  plant  with  leaflets 
somewhat  like  those  of  the  rose,  and  long-stalked 
spikes  of  feathery  white  flowers,  the  lower  ones  Great 
opening  first,  leaving  the  upper  part  of  the  spike 
in  bud.  These  blossoms  owe  their  feathery  ap- 
pearance to  the  four  long  white  stamens  of  which 
each  blossom   seems  chiefly  to  consist,  the  four 

ii7 


ACCORDING   TO   SEASON 


petal-like  lobes  of  the  calyx  having  fallen  and  the 
pistil  being  inconspicuous. 

The  brilliant  coloring  which  is  a  feature  of  this 
midsummer  meadow  is  intensified  by  the  insect 
Butterflies  life  which  it  sustains.  Butterflies,  especially,  seem 
to  abound.  They  float  over  the  nodding  grasses 
or  poise  quivering  above  a  nectar-laden  blossom 
or  rest  on  some  leafy  plant,  the  dull  undersides  of 
their  folded  wings  blending  with  their  surround- 
ings and  diminishing  the  likelihood  of  attacks 
from  their  enemies. 

Not  only  is  a  butterfly  endowed  with  unusual 
beauty,  but  its  life-history  is  full  of  charm.  Then, 
too,  the  very  names  of  butterflies  (unlike  those  of 
birds  and  plants,  of  many  of  which  "  Wilson's 
thrush  "  and  "Clayton's  fern  "  form  fair  samples) 
breathe  romance.  Who  would  not  yield  to  the 
spell  of  the  Wanderer,  the  Brown  Elfin,  the  Lit- 
tle Wood  Satyr,  and  the  Dreamy  Dusky-wing? 
Or  who  could  resist  the  charm  of  the  Painted 
Lady,  the  Silver-spotted  Hesperid,  the  Tawny 
Emperor,  or  the  Red  Admiral  ? 

In  the  meadow,  perhaps,  the  monarch  or  milk- 
weed butterfly  is  one  of  the  most  omnipresent. 
Indeed,  this  is  probably  the  best-known  butterfly 
in  the  United  States,  as  its  broad,  orange-red, 
black-bordered  wings  carry  it  many  hundreds  of 
miles  and  make  it  conspicuous  everywhere. 


The  spell 
of  names 


Monarch 
or  milk- 
weed 
butterfly 


A    LONG    ISLAND    MEADOW 

In  addition  to  being  the  most  widely  distrib- 
uted, it  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  our  but- 
terflies.    Its  career  is  an  amazing  one.     How  so  An 

fragile  a  creature  can  endure  the  fatigue  and  resist  SrJJT* 
the  storm  and  stress  incidental  to  a  journey  oi 
thousands  of  miles,  such  as  it  is  believed  to  take- 
when  migrating  to  southern  lands,  and  how  such 
a  "  shining  mark  "  escapes  destruction  from  its  ene- 
mies, it  is  difficult  to  understand.  That  this  annual 
migration  does  take  place  seems  fairly  well  estab- 
lished. The  butterfly  is  known  to  have  marvellous 
powers  of  flight,  and  along  the  coast  in  the  fall  it 
has  frequently  been  seen  assembling  in  flocks 
numbering  hundreds  of  thousands,  changing  the 
color  of  the  trees  on  which  it  alights  for  the  night. 

Its  great  weapon  against  its  enemies,  the  birds,  a  weapon 
is  the  rank  odor  exhaled  from  its  entire  body,  as  °'    *m 
well  as  a  specially  nauseous  smell   produced   by 
the  males  at  will  by  means  of  a  bunch  of  hairs  pro- 
truding from  either  side  of  the  abdomen. 

This  safeguard  is  supposed  to  be  the  cause  of 
what  is  called  the  "  unconscious  mimicry  "  of  an- 
other tribe  of  butterflies  which  wear  the  same  liv- 
ery of  orange  and  black.  It  is,  perhaps,  hardly 
necessary  to  say  that  this  so-called  "  mimicry  "  is 
believed  to  be  the  result  of  long  periods  of  time 
during  which  only  those  members  of  the  Jiasil- 
archia  that  bore  some  resemblance  to  the    mon- 

119 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 


The  Basil- 

archia 


Scent  per- 
ception of 
butterflies 


Caterpil- 
lar and 
chrysalis 


arch  butterfly  contrived  to  live  long  enough  to 
leave  descendants;  as  a  consequence,  from  gen- 
eration to  generation  the  likeness  between  the 
two  tribes  increased,  till  at  last  the  Basilarchia  so 
successfully  counterfeited  the  appearance  of  the 
milk-weed  butterfly  that,  while  still  without  its 
weapons  of  defence,  it  secured  almost  the  same 
immunity  from  its  enemies. 

The  scent  perception  of  butterflies  is  astonish- 
ingly keen.  Their  vision  has  been  proved  to  be 
very  imperfect,  according  to  our  ideas,  and  it  is 
believed  that  they  are  guided  to  the  plants  upon 
which  they  wish  to  lay  their  eggs,  and  from  which 
they  hope  to  gather  food,  by  the  sense  of  smell, 
rather  than  by  that  of  sight.  It  is  claimed  that  in 
certain  tribes  a  female  butterfly,  emerging  from 
her  cocoon  quite  out  of  sight  and  several  miles 
away  (in  a  city,  for  instance)  from  any  of  her  tribe 
is  speedily  visited  by  her  kinsmen  who  have  been 
guided  hither  by  the  sense  of  smell  alone. 

Clinging  to  a  leaf  or  a  blade  of  grass,  occasion- 
ally we  see  the  caterpillar  of  the  milkweed  but- 
terfly, its  plump  body  banded  with  yellow,  black, 
and  white.  These  caterpillars  come  from  eggs  de- 
posited by  the  butterfly  upon  the  upper  surface  of 
the  new  leaves  of  the  family  food-plant  (usually  a 
milkweed).  In  about  four  days  the  caterpillar 
hatches,  and  spends  the  next  two  or  three  weeks, 

120 


PLATE    XXI 


PURPLE   MILKWEED 

Asclepias  purpurasa  ns 


A   LONG    ISLAND    MEADOW 

while  attaining-  its  size,  upon  the  food-plant.  Dur- 
ing this  period  it  moults  its  skin  four  times.  When 
the  time  comes  for  the  change  to  chrysalis,  it 
usually  leaves  the  food-plant  and  seeks  some  safe 
and  steady  spot,  where  it  hangs  from  nine  to  fif- 
teen days,  when  the  butterfly  emerges. 

In  and  out  among  the  butterflies  flashes  the 
darning-needle,  its  blue  gleam  recalling  those 
childish  days  when  we  fearfully  hid  our  ears  lest 
they  be  darned  together.  Big  green  grasshoppers  Other  in- 
cling  to  the  leaves  and  grass-blades,  whose  exact  J 
color  they  often  seem  to  reproduce,  another  case 
of  the  mimicry  which  brings  security.  Under  the 
grasses  crawls  the  great  black,  furry  spider  whose 
bite,  tradition  tells  us,  is  death,  and  seeming  to  me 
more  like  the  incarnation  of  the  spirit  of  evil  than 
any  other  thing  I  know,  save  a  black  snake.  In  the 
centre  of  its  beautiful  upright  web  close  by  watches 
another  huge,  poisonous-looking  creature  with 
black  body,  spotted  and  banded  with  light  yellow. 

Upon  the  foot-path  along  the  fence  lies  the 
empty  shell  of  a  turtle.  Farther  on  the  skin  of  a 
snake  is  drying  in  the  sun.  At  times  I  am  more 
grateful  for  the  protection  which  my  rubber-boots  Rnbber- 
afford  me  from  furry  spiders  and  other  crawling, 
creeping  things  which  I  picture  in  the  black  slime 
below  the  sedges  than  from  the  mud  in  which  I 
sink  almost  knee-deep. 

121 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 


Unreason- 
ing horror 


Gold  and 
purple 


Insect 
chorus 


I  wonder  if  education  could  secure  one  against 
the  vague  unreasoning  horror  with  which  certain 
grewsome-looking  creatures  always  inspire  one. 
This  horror  does  not  arise  altogether  from  fear  of 
any  actual  physical  harm.  One  fears  a  ferocious 
bull,  yet  it  is  doubtful  if  the  thought  of  the  great 
beast  fills  him  with  the  sort  of  shrinking  terror 
which  is  aroused  by  the  mere  memory  of  other 
comparatively  harmless  creatures.  Yet  where 
actually  repellent  objects  are  concerned,  I  doubt 
if  it  would  be  possible  to  plant  in  even  young  and 
unprejudiced  minds  the  desirable  sense  of  kinship 
with  all  living  things. 

It  is  the  last  week  of  August.  The  meadow  is 
putting  on  its  dress  of  gold  and  purple,  the  red- 
gold  of  the  pendants  of  the  jewel-weed,  the  yel- 
low-gold of  the  golden-rod,  the  blue-purples  of 
the  asters,  the  pinker  shades  of  the  sea-side  ger- 
ardia,  the  lavender  of  the  bell-like  flower-heads  of 
the  lion's  foot,  and  the  varied  purples  of  the  blos- 
soming grasses,  now  more  luxuriant  than  ever. 

The  bird-voices  grow  daily  more  rare.  An  oc- 
casional song-sparrow  makes  a  hoarse  effort,  but 
is  less  successful  than  are  the  myriad  insects,  the 
crickets,  locusts,  and  grasshoppers.  These  fill  the 
air  with  a  droning,  soothing  chorus  that  blends 
with  the  low  roar  of  the  sea  beyond  the  distant 
sand-hills. 


22 


IX 

MIDSUMMER 


Or  else  perhaps  I  sought  some  meadow  low, 
Where  deep-fringed  orchids  reared  their  feathery  spires, 
Where  lilies  nodded  by  the  river  slow, 
And  milkweeds  burned  in  red  and  orange  fires  ; 
Where  bright- winged  blackbirds  flashed  like  living  coals, 
And  reed-birds  fluted  from  the  swaying  grass ; 
There  shared  I  in  the  laden  bee's  delight, 
Quivered  to  see  the  dark  cloud-shadows  pass 
Beyond  me  ;   loved  and  yearned  to  know  the  souls 
Of  bird  and  bee  and  flower — of  day  and  night. 


IX 
MIDSUMMER 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  the  manner  in  which 
the  flowers  express  the  dominant  mood  of  the 
season.  The  early  ones,  as  has  been  noticed  al-  Mood  of 
ready,  are  chilly-looking,  shy,  tentative;  charm-  t:cseas0i 
ing  with  the  shrinking,  uncertain  charm  of  an 
American  spring.  Those  of  the  later  year  are 
distinctly  hardy,  braced  to  meet  cold  winds  and 
nipping  nights;  while  those  of  midsummer — 
those  which  are  abroad  now — have  caught  the 
hot  look  of  flame,  or  of  the  sun  itself,  or — at 
times — the  deep  blue  of  the  sky. 

Of  course  there  are  exceptions  to  this  rule,  as 
we  shall  note  later ;  but  the  least  observing  must  intensity 
admit  the  intensity  of  the  colors  which  now  pre-  °*  ° 
vail,  colors  which  are  not,  perhaps,  more  brilliant 
than  the  later  ones,  but  which,  it  seems  to  me,  are 
far  more  suggestive  of  summer.  It  may  be  argued 
that  this  is  merely  a  matter  of  association  :  that  if 
the  golden-rods  and  asters  were  in  the  habit  of 
flowering  in  July,  and  if  the  lilies  and  milk- 
weeds ordinarily  postponed  their  appearance  till 

125 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

September,  the  former  would  seem  to  us  the 
ones  which  embodied  most  vividly  the  idea  of 
heat  and  sunlight,  while  the  latter  would  typify, 
in  a  perfectly  satisfactory  fashion,  the  colder 
season. 

I  am  ready  to  acknowledge  that  we  are  victim- 
ized sometimes  by  our  sensitiveness  to  association  ; 
recalling  clearly  a  certain  childish  conviction  that 
one  could  recognize  Sunday  by  the  peculiarly 
golden  look  of  its  sunlight,  and  by  the  long,  mys- 
terious slant  of  its  shadows  in  the  orchard.  This 
delusion — though  even  yet  it  hardly  seems  that — 
sprang,  I  suppose,  partly  from  the  fact  that  only 
on  Sunday  was  one  obliged  to  refrain  from  a  va- 
riety of  enchanting  pursuits  which  at  other  times 
proved  so  absorbing  as  to  preclude  any  great 
sensitiveness  to  the  aspects  of  nature,  and  partly 
also  from  a  certain  serenity  in  the  moral  atmos- 
phere which  so  linked  itself  with  the  visible  sur- 
roundings as  to  arouse  the  belief  that  the  lights 
and  shadows  of  this  one  day  actually  differed  in 
character  from  those  of  the  other  six.  Still  I  can- 
not but  think  that  not  only  is  the  coarseness  of 
habit  common  to  the  later  flowers  suggestive  of  a 
defensive  attitude  in  view  of  a  more  or  less  in- 
clement season,  but  that  their  actual  colors  are 
less  indicative  of  the  heat  of  summer. 

Surely  no  autumn  field  sends  upward  a  multiple 
126 


MIDSUMMER 


reflection  of  the  sun  itself  as  do  these  meadows 
about  us.  One  would  suppose  thai  the  yellow 
rays  of  the  omnipresent  black-eyed  Susan  would 
droop  beneath  the  fierce  ones  which  beat  upon 
them  from  above.  Instead,  they  seem  to  welcome  Composite 
the  touch  of  a  "kinsman  and  to  gain  vigor  from  lJmtljy 
the  contact.  One  instantly  recognizes  these  flow- 
ers as  members  of  the  great  composite  family,  a 
tribe  which  is  beginning  to  take  almost  undisputed 
possession  of  many  of  our  fields ;  that  is,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  floral  world,  for  the  farmers  arc  waging 
constant  war  upon  it.  They  are  cousins  of  the 
dandelions  and  daisies,  of  the  golden-rod  and 
asters. 

The  family  name  indicates  that  each  flower-head 
is  composed  of  a  number  of  small  flowers  which 
are  clustered  so  closely  as  to  give  the  effect  of  a 
single  blossom.  In  the  black-eyed  Susan  the  brown 
centre,  the  "  black  eye  "  itself,  consists  of  a  quan- 
tity of  tubular-shaped  blossoms,  which  are  crowded   Disk  and 


upon  a  somewhat  cone-shaped  receptacle,  hence  Ml"  a 
the  common  name  of  "  cone-flower."  In  botanical 
parlance,  these  are  called  "disk-flowers."  They 
possess  both  stamens  and  pistils,  while  the  yellow 
rays,  which  commonly  are  regarded  as  petals,  are 
in  reality  flowers  which  are  without  either  of  these 
important  organs;  only  assisting  in  the  perpetua- 
tion of  the  species  by  arresting  the  attention  of 

127 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

passing  insects  and  thus  securing  an  exchange  of 
pollen  among  the  perfect  disk-flowers. 

In  the  common  daisy  the  arrangement  is  differ- 
ent. Here  the  white  rays  are  even  more  useful 
than  ornamental,  as  they  are  the  female  flowers  of 
the  head,  eventually  producing  seed;  while  the 
yellow  disk-flowers  of  the  centre  yield  the  pollen. 
The  dandelion  is  without  any  tubular  blossoms. 
Its  florets  are  botanically  described  as  "  strap- 
shaped,"  resembling  the  ray-flowers  of  the  daisy 
and  black-eyed  Susan.  In  the  common  thistle, 
again,  we  find  only  tubular  flowers.  If  the  minute 
blossoms  of  the  composite  family  were  not  thus 
grouped,  probably  they  would  be  too  inconspicu- 
ous to  attract  attention  and  often  might  fail  to 
secure  the  pollen  necessary  to  their  fertilization. 

"  Union  is    To  quote  Mr.  Grant  Allen,  "  Union  is  strength  for 

strength"     the  daisy  as  for  the  State." 

More  people  would  learn  to  take  an  interest  in 
plants  if  they  suspected  the  pleasurable  excite- 
ment which  awaits  the  flower-lover  upon  the 
most  commonplace  railway  journey.  A  peculiar 
thrill  of  expectancy  is  caused  by  the  rapidly 
changing  environment  which  reveals,  in  swift 
succession,  flowers  of  the  most  varied  proclivi- 
A  railway  ties.  If  we  leave  New  York  on  a  certain  road,  at 
journey  intervals  for  an  hour  or  more  the  salt  marshes 
spread  their  deep-hued  treasures  before  us.    Then 

128 


PLATE  XXII 


WOOD  LILY 

LiHum  Philadelphicum 


MIDSUMMKR 


we  turn  into  the  interior,  passing  through  farm- 
lands where  the  plants  which  follow  in  the  wake 
of  civilization  line  our  way.  Suddenly  we  leave 
these  behind.  Darting  into  the  deep  forest  we 
catch  glimpses  of  the  shyer  woodland  beauties. 
Now  and  then  we  span  a  foaming  river,  on  whose 
steep  shores  we  may  detect,  with  the  eagerness 
of  a  sportsman,  some  long-sought  rarity. 

It  is  always  a  fresh  surprise  and  disappoint- 
ment to  me  to  find  that  I  can  seldom  reach  on 
foot  such  wild  and  promising  spots  as  the  rail- 
way window  reveals.  Is  it  possible  that  the  Charm  of 
swiftly  vanishing  scene  has  been  illuminated  by  at-abu 
the  imagination  which  has  been  allowed  the 
freer  play  from  the  improbability  of  any  neces- 
sity for  future  readjustment?  However  that 
may  be,  I  find  that  my  book  possesses  but  little 
charm  till  an  aching  head  warns  me  to  refrain 
from  too  constant  a  vigil. 

Just  now,  from  such  a  coign  of  vantage,  when 
the  unclouded  sun  beats  upon  their  surfaces,  cer- 
tain pastures  look  as  though  afire.  The  grasses 
sway  about  great  patches  of  intense  orange-red, 
suggestive  of  creeping  flames.  This  startling  Milkueeds 
effect  is  given  by  the  butterfly-weed,  the  most 
gorgeous  member  of  the  milkweed  family.  Al- 
most equally  vivid,  though  less  flame-like,  is  the 
purple  milkweed,  a  species  which  abounds  also  in 

129 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 


Ignorance 
of  our 
native 
flowers 


dry  places,  with  deep  pink-purple  flowers  which 
grow  in  smaller,  less  spreading  clusters  than  those 
of  the  butterfly-weed.  The  swamp  milkweed 
may  be  found  in  nearly  all  wet  meadows.  It  is 
described  by  Gray  as  "  rose-purple,"  but  the  finer 
specimens  might  almost  claim  to  be  ranked 
among  the  red  flowers. 

The  dull  pink  balls  of  the  common  milkweed 
or  silkweed  are  massed  by  every  road-side  now, 
and  are  too  generally  known  to  need  description. 
The  most  delicate  member  of  the  family  is  the 
four-leaved  milkweed,  with  fragrant  pale  pink 
blossoms  which  appear  in  June  on  the  wooded 
hill-sides.  Although  there  are  eighteen  distinct 
species  of  milkweed  proper,  perhaps  the  above 
are  the  only  ones  which  are  commonly  encoun- 
tered. Few  plant-families  add  more  to  the  beau- 
ty  of  the  summer  fields.  But  although  its  differ- 
ent representatives  are  deemed  worthy  of  careful 
cultivation  in  other  countries — the  well-known 
swallow-worts  of  English  gardens  being  milk- 
weeds— I  doubt  if  the  average  American  knows 
even  the  commoner  species  by  sight,  so  careless 
have  we  been  of  our  native  flowers. 

July  yields  no  plant  which  is  more  perfect  in 
both  flower  and  foliage  than  the  meadow- lily.  It 
is  a  genuine  delight  to  wade  knee-deep  into  some 
meadow  among  the  myriad   erect   stems,   which 

130 


MIDSUMMI  R 


are  surrounded  by  symmetrical  circles  of  lanc< 

shaped  leaves  and  crowned  with  long-stemmed,  llly 
nodding,  recurved  lilies;  lilies  so  bell-like  and 
tremulous  that  such  a  meadow  always  suggests 
to  me  possibilities  of  tinkling  music  too  ethereal 
for  mortal  ears.  Usually  these  flowers  are  yel- 
low, thickly  spotted  with  brown,  but  this  year 
I  find  them  of  the  deepest  shade  of  orange.  With- 
in the  flower-cup  the  stamens  are  heavily  loaded 
with  brown  pollen. 

When  with  rhythmical  sweep  of  his  long  sevthe 
the  mower  lays  low  whole  acres  of  lilies  and  clo- 
ver, milkweeds,  daisies,  and  buttercups,  there  is  a 
tendency  to  bewail  such  a  massacre  of  the  flowers. 
But,  after  all,  this  is  no  purposeless  destruction.  "Lovely 
As  the  dead  blossoms  lie  heaped  one  upon  another  apfca,ant 
in  the  blazing  sunlight,  their  sweetness  is  scat- 
tered abroad  with  every  breath  of  wind.  As  we 
rest  among  the  fragrant  mounds  we  are  still  sub- 
ject to  their  pervading  influence.  They  "  were 
lovely  and  pleasant  in  their  lives,  and  in  their 
death  they  were  not  divided." 

But  it  is  not   the   sentimentalist  only  who    be- 
grudges every  flower  that  is  picked  without  pur- 
pose, to  be  thrown  aside,  a  repulsive,  disfigured    The  pur 
object,  a  few  moments  later.     Certainly  it   seems   ;/('4V/.S 
unintelligent,  if  not  wasteful  and  irreverent,  to  be   Pukt'r 
possessed  with  an  irresistible  desire  wantonly  to 

131 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

destroy  an  exquisite  organism.  Yet  so  frequent 
is  this  form  of  unintelligence  that,  when  the  com- 
panioned flower-lover  discovers  a  group  of  what  he 
fears  might  be  considered  tempting  blossoms,  his 
instinct  is  to  pounce  upon  them  with  outstretched 
arms  and  protect  them  from  an  almost  certain  on- 
slaught. 

Thoreau  says  somewhere  that  life  should  be 
lived  "  as  tenderly  and  daintily  as  one  would 
pluck  a  flower/'  so  it  is  possible  that  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Walden  the  ruthless  flower-gatherers 
were  in  the  minority,  for  one  would  regret  to  see 
a  life  lived  as  roughly  and  without  semblance  of 
daintiness  as  in  less  fortunate  localities  one  can 
see  flowers  plucked  by  the  dozen. 

In  the  woods  and  along  the  thicket-bordered 
fields  the  vivid  cups  of  the  wood-lily  gleam  from 
Wood-lily  clusters  of  dull  bracken  or  from  feathery,  gold- 
tinged  fern-beds.  These  had  never  seemed  to 
me  so  almost  blood-like  in  color  as  when  I  caught 
constant  glimpses  of  them  from  the  train  a  few 
days  ago.  As  it  had  been  raining  heavily,  I 
thought  that  the  unusual  intensity  of  their  hue 
might  be  due  to  a  recent  bath.  But  in  my  wan- 
derings since  then  I  have  encountered  equally 
brilliant  specimens,  and  again  conclude  that  the 
flowers  of  this  year  are  unusually  deep-hued  and 
vigorous. 

132 


PLATE   XXIII 


WHITE   SWAMP   HONEYSUCKLE 

Rhutfoth  ndron  viscosum 


MIDSUMMIR 


However  much  \vc  may  revel  in  rich  color,  it  is 
restful,  after  a  time,  to  turn  from  these  blazing  mi 
children  of  the  sun  to  the  green  water-cours 
which  are  marked  by  the  white,  pyramidal  clus- 
ters and  graceful  foliage  of  the  tall  meadow-rue. 
On  certain  of  these  plants  the  flowers  arc  exquis- 
itely delicate  and  feathery,  while  on  others  they 
are  comparatively  coarse  and  dull.  A  closer  in- 
spection reveals  that  the  former  are  the  male,  the 
latter  the  female  flowers. 

This  distinction  between  the  sexes,  however,  is 
less  marked  in  the  world  of  flowers  than  in  that  of 
birds.  During  the  past  week  I  have  watched  the  Distinction 
comings  and  goings  of  a  scarlet  tanager,  which  °f sexes 
had  built  hi3  nest  in  the  fork  of  a  pine-tree  within 
easy  view  of  my  window,  and  have  had  ample  op- 
portunity to  contrast  the  tropical  brilliancy  of  his 
plumage  with  the  dull  greenish  dress  of  his  mate, 
a  contrast  greater  than  any  I  have  noticed  among 
similarly  related  flowers. 

Almost  as  refreshing  as  the  masses  of  meadow-  Eldtr 
rue  are  the  thickets  composed  of  the  deep  green  JJ^J 
leaves  and  white,  spreading  flowers  of  the  elder,  swamp 
Another  beautiful  shrub,  which  is  now  blossoming  sttckU, 
in  marshy  places,  especially  near  the  coast,  is  the  ^flfj'^ 
fragrant  white  swamp  honeysuckle.    Only  among  tv v/' 
the  sand-hills  of   the  coast  itself  do  we  meet  with 
the  purplish  blossoms  of  the  beach-pea.     Nearly 

133 


New 
Jersey  tea 


IVild- 
indigo 


Black 
cohosh 


ACCORDING   TO   SEASON 

akin  to  it  is  the  blue  vetch,  whose  long,  dense,  one- 
sided clusters  of  small,  pea-like  flowers  make  little 
lakes  of  pinkish  blue  in  wet  meadows  farther  in- 
land. 

In  the  dry  woods  we  encounter  constantly  a 
shrubby  plant  with  rounded  clusters  of  small 
white  flowers.  This  is  the  New  Jersey  tea,  or 
red-root;  the  former  name  arising  from  the  use 
made  of  its  leaves  during  the  Revolution,  the  lat- 
ter from  its  dark  red  root.  The  driest  and  most 
uninviting  localities  do  not  seem  to  discourage 
either  this  persistent  little  shrub  or  the  bushy- 
looking  wild-indigo,  with  its  clover-like  leaves 
and  short  terminal  clusters  of  yellow,  pea-like 
blossoms. 

In  shaded  hollows  and  on  the  hill-sides  the  tall 
white  wands  of  the  black  cohosh,  or  bugbane, 
shoot  upward,  rocket-like.  The  great  stout 
stems,  large  divided  leaves  and  slender  spikes  of 
feathery  flowers  render  this  the  most  conspicuous 
wood-plant  of  the  season.  If  we  chance  to  be 
lingering 

"  In  secret  paths  that  thread  the  forest  land  " 


when  the  last  sunlight  has  died  away,  and  hap- 
pen suddenly  upon  one  of  these  ghostly  groups, 
the  effect  is  almost  startling.  The  rank  odor  of 
the  flowers  detracts  somewhat  from  one's  enjoy- 

134 


MIDSUMMER 


ment  of  their  beauty,  and  is  responsible,  I  sup- 
pose, for  their  unpleasing  title  of  bugbane. 

Under  the  pine-trees  are  the  glossy  leaves  and 
nodding  bells  of  the  wintergreen  ;  while  here  and 
there  spring  graceful,  wax-like  clusters  of  para- 
sitic Indian  pipe,  the  fresh  blossoms  nodding 
from   leafless,  fleshy  stalks,  the  older  ones  erect-  Wt$4er- 

i  i  r  -IT71  €fi  '■'I  and 

ing  themselves  preparatory  to  fruiting.  When  iHiiumplpe 
we  pick  these  odd-looking  flowers  they  turn  black 
from  our  touch,  adding  their  protest  to  the  cry 
against  the  despoiler,  and  invalidating  their  claim 
to  the  title  which  they  sometimes  bear  of  "  corpse- 
plant." 

From  some  deep  shadow  gleam  the  coral-like 
berries  of  the  early  elder  or  the  bright,  rigid 
clusters  of  the  baneberry.  On  the  low  bush- 
honeysuckle   the   deep-colored   yellow  blossoms 

announce  to  the  insect  world  that  they  have  no  Busb- 

r.       .       .  r       11  i  honeysuckle 

attractions  to  offer  in  the  way  of  pollen  or  honey, 

their  fertilization  being  achieved  already. 

But  at  present  the  woods  are  not  altogether 
satisfactory  hunting-grounds.  The  more  inter- 
esting flowers  have  sought  the  combined  light 
and  moisture  of  the  open  bogs  or  the  sunshine  of 
the    fields  and  road  sides.      Along  the  latter  are  Fields  and 

r   ,  ,     i  i  •  t->  road-sides 

quantities  of  bladder-campion,  a  European  mem- 
ber of  the  pink  family  which  has  established  it- 
self in  Eastern   New  England.     It  can  be  recog- 

135 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

nized  at  once  by  its  much-inflated  calyx  and  by 
its  deeply  parted  white  petals.  A  few  days  since 
I  found  the  wayside  whitened  with  the  large 
flowers  of  the  lovely  summer  anemone,  each  one 
springing  from  between  two  closely  set,  deeply 
cut  leaves,  in  the  distance  suggesting  white  wild- 
geraniums.  A  near  kinsman,  the  thimble-weed,  is 
apt  to  be  confused  with  the  summer  anemone 
when  it  is  found  bearing  white  instead  of  green- 
ish flowers.  This  curious-looking  plant  is  notice- 
able now  in  shaded  spots,  growing  to  a  height  of 
two  or  three  feet,  and  sending  up  gaunt  flower- 
stalks  which  are  finally  crowned  with  a  large, 
oblong,  thimble-like  head  of  fruit. 

Banked  in  hollows  of  the  hill-side  are  tall,  nod- 
ding wands  of  willow-herb  or  fire-weed,  with  deli- 
cate flowers  of  intense  purple-pink.  Each  blossom 
contains  both  stamens  and  pistil,  but  these  mature 
wniaw-  at  different  times,  and  so-called  "  self-fertilization  " 
fire-weed  is  prevented.  The  pollen  is  discharged  from  the 
stamens  while  the  immature  pistil  is  still  bent 
backward,  with  its  stigmas  so  closed  as  to  render 
it  impossible  for  them  to  receive  upon  their  sur- 
faces a  single  quickening  grain.  Later  it  erects 
itself,  spreading  its  four  stigmas,  which  now  secure 
easily  any  pollen  which  may  have  been  brushed 
upon  the  body  of  the  visiting  bee.  These  flowers 
are  so  large  and  are  visited  so  constantly  by  bees 

136 


PcATE    XXlV 


»&*♦ 


JOB  PYE-WtED 

Eupatorium  purpureum 


MIDSUMMI  R 


that  anyone  who  chances  upon  tin-  plant  can   wit- 
ness speedily  the  whole  performance. 

Here  are  raspberry  bushes  covered  thickly  with 
fruit,  so  thickly  that  one  could  live  lor  days  on 
the  rocky  hill-side  without  other  food  than  this 
most  subtly  flavored  of  all-berries.  Overhead  its 
purple-flowered  sister  betrays  its  kinship  with  the 
now  abundant  wild-rose,  whose  delicate  beauty  it 
fails  utterly  to  rival.  In  the  low  thicket  are  tiny, 
rose-veined  bells  of  dogbane,  and,  beyond,  the 
bright  if  somewhat  ragged  yellow  flowers  and 
dotted  leaves  of  the  irrepressible  St.  John's-wort 
jut  up  everywhere. 

The  umbrella-like  clusters  of  the  water-hemlock 
fill  the  moist  ditches  and  suggest  the  wild-carrot 
of  the  later  year ;  close  by,  the  coarse  stems  and 
flat,  yellow  tops  of  its  relative,  the  meadow  pars- 
nip, crowd  one  upon  another.  Farther  on  are  soft 
plumes  of  the  later  yellow  loosestrife,  with  little 
flowers  similar  to  those  of  the  four-leaved  loose-  Yelloa 
strife,  which  is  now  on  the  wane.  loosc 

One  looks  down  upon  a  wood  from  whose  edges 
gleam  silvery  birches,  whose  tops  are  soft  with 
the  tassels  of  the  chestnut.  Below  it  slopes  a 
meadow  turned  yellow  with  the  pale  flowers  of 
the  wild-radish.     Above  it  surges  a  field  of  grain   Wild- 

l    h 

which  grows  dark  and  cool  with  the  shadow  of  a 
scurrying  cloud.     If  one  were  nearer  he  would  see 

137 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

among  the  wheat  the  bright  pink-purple  petals 
Com-         and  green  ruff-like  calyx  of  the  corn-cockle. 

The  year  is  at  its  height.  The  bosom  of  the 
earth  is  soft  and  restful  as  that  of  a  mother.  One 
Thenar's  abides  in  the  perfect  present,  looking  neither  be- 
hind nor  before.  With  the  ever-recurring  scent 
of  new-mown  hay  comes  another  odor,  aromatic, 
permeating.     From  our  feet  slopes 

Wild  "  — a  bank  where  the  wild  thyme  grows." 

thyme 

Only  in  this  one  spot  have  I  ever  met  with  this 
classic  little  plant,  with  its  close  purple  flowers 
and  tiny  rigid  leaves.  When  I  first  discovered  it, 
one  superb  rain-washed  afternoon,  the  line 

"  From  dewy  pastures,  uplands  sweet  with  thyme," 

from  Mr.  Watson's  poem  on  Wordsworth,  flashed 
into  my  mind,  and  for  the  hundredth  time  I  ap- 
preciated the  rather  flippant  humor  of  someone's 
assertion  that  the  chief  use  of  Nature  is  to  illus- 
trate quotations  from  the  poets. 


138 


X 
EARLY    AUGUST 


It  seems  as  if  the  day  was  not  wholly  profane  in  which  we  have  given  heed  to 
some  natural  object. — Emerson. 


X 

EARLY    AUGUST 

If  someone  should  ask  me  to  show  him  the  place 
of  all  others  which  would  reveal  the  largest  num- 
ber of  striking  flowers  peculiar  to  this  season,  I 
should  like  to  guide  him  to  a  certain  salt-marsh —  A  salt- 
a  salt-marsh  which  is  cut  up  here  and  there  by 
little  inlets,  where  the  water  runs  up  at  high  tide 
and  laps  its  way  far  inland,  and  which  is  dotted 
by  occasional  islands  of  higher,  drier  land  that 
are  covered  with  tall  trees. 

In  the  distance  the  marsh  only  looks  refresh- 
ingly green,  but  if  we  draw  nearer  we  see  patches 
of  vivid  coloring  for  which  the  bright  grass  of 
the  salt-meadows  fails  to  account.  If  we  enter  it 
by  way  of  the  sand-hills  on  the  beach,  we  almost 
hesitate  to  step  upon  the  dainty  carpet  which  lies 
before  us.  Hundreds  of  sea-pinks,  or  Sabbatia,  Sta-pink 
gleam  like  rosy  stars  above  the  grasses.  Yet  the 
prodigal  fashion  in  which  this  plant  lavishes  its 
rich  color  upon  the  meadows  does  not  constitute 
its  sole  or  even  its  chief  claim  upon  our  enthusi- 
asm, for  it  is  as  perfect  in  detail  as  it  is  beautiful 

141 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 


Sabbatia 

chloroides 


Sea- 
lavender 


Mock 

bishop-weed 
and  marsh 
St.Johri's- 
wort 


in  the  mass.  The  five-parted  corolla  is  of  the 
purest  pink,  with  clear  markings  of  red  and  yel- 
low at  its  centre.  As  in  the  willow-herb  or  fire- 
weed,  the  stamens  and  pistils  mature  at  different 
times,  and  self-fertilization  is  avoided. 

One  peculiarly  large  and  beautiful  species  is 
Sabbatia  chloroides.  This  is  found  bordering 
brackish  ponds  along  the  coast.  I  have  never 
been  so  fortunate  as  to  see  it  growing,  but  speci- 
mens have  been  sent  me  from  Cape  Cod.  A  less 
conspicuous  kind  abounds  in  the  rich  soil  of  the 
interior. 

Another  abundant  plant  which  is  sure  to  excite 
our  interest  is  the  sea-lavender.  Its  small  laven- 
der-colored flowers  are  spiked  along  one  side  of 
the  leafless,  branching  stems,  giving  a  misty  ef- 
fect which  makes  its  other  common  name  of 
marsh  rosemary  seem  peculiarly  appropriate, 
when  we  know  that  the  title  is  derived  from  the 
Latin  for  "  sea-spray." 

Here,  too,  we  find  the  mock  bishop-weed,  one 
of  the  most  delicate  of  the  parsleys,  with  thread- 
like leaves  and  tiny  white  flowers  growing  in  bract- 
ed  clusters,  the  shape  of  which  might  suggest  to 
the  imaginative  a  bishop's  cap.  Through  this  veil 
of  flower  and  foliage  we  spy  the  pinkish  stems, 
opposite,  clasping  leaves,  and  small  flesh-colored 
blossoms  of  the  marsh  St.  John's-wort,  an  attrac- 

142 


PLATE    XXV 


NEW  ENGLAND  ASTER 

. \.</>  r  Nova  A  nglia 


EARLY    AUGUST 


tive  plant  whose  chief  charm,  perhaps,  lies  in  its 
foliage   and    coloring,   as    its    flowers,   although 

pretty,  are  rather  small  and  inconspicuous. 

Parts  of  the  meadow  arc  bright  with  the  ob- 
long, clover-like  heads  of  the  milkwort.  These  MM 
seem  to  deepen  in  color  from  day  to  day  till 
finally  they  look  almost  red.  The}  are  closely 
related  to  the  lovely  fringed  polygala  oi  the  June 
woods, and  to  the  little  moss-like  species  with  nar- 
row leaves  growing  in  circles  about  its  stem,  and 
thick  flower-heads  of  purplish-pink,  which  can  be 
found  along  the  inner  borders  of  this  same  marsh. 

There  is  a  hollow  in  the  meadow  which  is  al- 
ways too  wet  to  be  explored  comfortably  without 
rubber-boots,  and  which  becomes  at  high  tick-  a 
salt-water  pond.  Its  edges  are  guarded  by  ranks 
of  tall  swamp  mallows,  whose  great  rose-colored  Swamp 
flowers  flutter  like  banners  in  the  breeze.  Close 
by  are  thickets  turned  pinkish-purple  by  the 
dense  flower-clusters  of  the  largest  and  most 
showy  of  the  tick-trefoils,  a  group  of  plants  which 
are  now  in  full  bloom  and  which  can  be  recognized 
by  their  three-divided  leaves,  pink  or  purple  pea- 
like flowers,  and  by  the  flat,  roughened  pods 
which  adhere  to  our  clot  lies  with  regrettable 
pertinacity.  The  botany  assigns  this  species  to 
rich  woods,  but  I  have  never  seen  it  more  abun- 
dant than  here. 

143 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 


IVater- 

bemlocl 


The  glorv 
of  tie 
marsh 


Danger  of 
extermina- 
tion 


Only  by  pushing  our  way  through  a  miniature 
forest  composed  of  the  purple-streaked  stems, 
divided  leaves,  and  white  flowers  of  another 
parsley,  the  water-hemlock,  do  we  reach  the 
stretch  of  land  which  glories  in  the  treasure 
which  makes  this  especial  marsh  more  brilliant 
and  unusual  than  the  many  others  which  skirt  the 
coast.  This  treasure  is  the  yellow-fringed  orchis, 
a  plant  which  rears  its  full  orange-colored  domes 
on  every  side,  making  a  mass  of  burning  color  in 
the  morning  sunlight. 

I  have  never  found  an  orchid  growing  in  such 
abundance  elsewhere,  and  cannot  but  hope  that 
the  meadow  will  guard  its  secret,  lest  some  whole- 
sale despoiler  should  contrive  to  rob  it  perma- 
nently of  its  greatest  beauty.  Certain  orchids 
which  were  abundant  formerly  in  parts  of  Eng- 
land can  no  longer  be  found  in  that  country,  ow- 
ing to  the  reckless  fashion  in  which  the  plants, 
for  various  purposes,  were  uprooted  and  carried 
off.  It  is  well,  too,  to  remember  that  plucking 
all  of  its  flowers  is  equivalent  to  uprooting  the 
plant  in  the  case  of  annuals  and  biennials,  as  the 
future  life  of  the  species  depends  upon  the  seeds 
which  the  flowers  set. 

In  the  swamps  farther  inland  the  close  white 
heads  of  the  button-bush  yield  a  jasmine-like  fra- 
grance.    From  grassy  hummocks  nod  the  violet- 

144 


EARLY    AUGl'ST 


purple  blossomsof  the  monkey-flower.     The  path 

of  the  slow  stream  is  defined  by  the  bright  arrou     in... 
shaped  leaves  and  spotless  gold-centred   flowers 

of  the  arrow-head.     About  the  upper  pari  oi  their 
stems  are  clustered  the  male  blossoms,  their  thi 
snowy  petals  surrounding-  the  yellow  stamens,  the 

rather  ugly  female  flowers  with  their  dull  gr< 
centres  occupying  a  less  conspicuous  position  be- 
low.    This   is   only  in   some  cases,    however;  at 
times  the   staminate  and   pistillate   blossoms  are 
found  on  separate  plants. 

The  edges  of  the  pond  are  blue  with  the  Long, 
close  spikes  of  the  pickerel-weed.  Over  the  thick- 
ets on  its  shore  the  clematis  has  flung  a  veil  oi  Tt 
feathery  white.  A  tangle  of  golden  threads  with 
little  bunched  white  flowers  shows  that  the  dodder 
is  at  its  old  game  of  living  on  its  more  self-reliant 
neighbors.  From  erect,  finger-like  clusters  comes 
the  sweet,  spicy  breath  of  the  Clcthra. 

Where  the  white  dust  of  the  road  powders  the 
wayside  plants,  rise  the  coarse  stalks  of  the  even-  Tb$ 
ing  primrose.  These  are  hung  with  faded-look- 
ing flowers  whose  unsuspectedly  fragrant  pet- 
als gleamed  through  the  moonlit  darkness  of  last 
night.  Among  them  we  find  a  fragile,  canary- 
yellow  blossom  which  has  been  unable  to  el 
because  the  pink  night-moth,  which  is  the  plant's 
regular  visitor,  is  so  overcome  with  sleep,  01 

MS 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

drunk,  perhaps,  with  nectar,  that  it  is  quite  ob- 
livious of  the  growing  day  and  of  its  host's  custom 
of  closing  its  doors  with  sunrise.  We  are  so  un- 
used to  seeing  these  gay  creatures  that  we  feel  a 
little  as  if  we  had  surprised  some  ballroom  beauty 
fast  asleep  on  the  scene  of  her  midnight  triumphs. 
The  slender  spikes  of  the  tall  purple  vervain 
Vervain  have  a  somewhat  jagged  appearance,  owing  to 
the  reluctance  of  its  little  deep-hued  flowers  to 
open  simultaneously.  The  mullein  is  not  without 
this  same  peculiarity.  Its  sleepy-looking  blossoms 
open  one  by  one,  giving  the  dense  spike  an  un- 
MulUin  finished,  sluggish  aspect.  In  fact,  I  think  it  is  the 
most  "  logy  "  looking  plant  we  have.  Although 
it  came  to  us  originally  from  England,  it  is  now 
comparatively  rare  in  that  country.  Mr.  Bur- 
roughs quotes  a  London  correspondent,  who  says 
that  when  one  comes  up  in  solitary  glory  its  ap- 
pearance is  heralded  much  as  if  it  were  a  comet, 
the  development  of  its  woolly  leaves  and  the 
growth  of  its  spike  being  watched  and  reported 
upon  day  by  day. 

The  broad,  butterfly-shaped  flowers  of  the  moth- 
Mo^-  mullein,  another  emigrant, are  much  more  pleasing 
than  those  of  its  kinsman.  Its  corolla  is  some- 
times white,  sometimes  yellow,  with  a  dash  of 
red  or  purple  at  the  centre.  Its  stamens  are 
loaded  with  orange-colored  pollen  and  bearded 

146 


mullein 


EARLY    AUGUST 


with  tufts  of  violet  wool,  which  we  fancy  shields 
some  hidden  nectar,  as  its  whole  appearance  sug 

gests  that  it  aims  to  attract  insect  visitors. 

Despite  the  aversion  with  which  it  is  regarded 
by  the  farmers,  and  the  carelessness  with  which  it 
is  overlooked  by  those  who  value  only  the  unusual, 
the  wild-carrot  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  our 
naturalized  plants.  There  is  a  delicacy  and  sym- 
metry in  the  feathery  clusters  suggestive  of  cob- 
webs, of  magnified  snowflakes,  of  the  finest  of  laces 
(one  of  its  common  names  is  Queen  Anne's  lace), 
of  the  daintiest  creations  in  the  worlds  of  both  art 
and  nature. 

Perhaps  the  most  omnipresent  flower  just  now 
is  the  yarrow.  Its  finely  dissected  leaves  and  close 
white  clusters  border  every  road-side.  Indeed, 
when  passing  through  New  York  a  short  time 
ago  it  showed  its  familiar  face  in  a  Fifth  Avenue 
door-yard.  Despite  what  seems  to  me  an  obvious 
unlikeness,  it  is  confused  frequently  with  the  wild- 
carrot.  Five  minutes'  study  of  the  two  plants  Yart 
with  a  common  magnify  ing-glass  will  fix  firmly  in 
the  mind  the  difference  between  them.  It  requires 
little  botanical  knowledge  to  recognize  at  once 
that  the  wild-carrot  is  a  member  of  the  umbellif- 
erous parsley  family.  But  the  small  heads  <>t  the 
yarrow  so  perfectly  simulate  separate  flowers  that 
this  plant  is  less  readily  identified  as  a  composite. 

147 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 


Elecam- 
pane and 
chicory 


An  old- 
fashioned 
remedy 


Huddled  in  hollows  by  the  road-side  are  the  tall 
stout  stalks,  clasping  woolly  leaves,  and  great  yel- 
low disks  of  the  elecampane,  another  composite. 
Still  another,  which  is  never  found  far  from  the 
highway,  is  the  chicory,  the  charm  of  whose  sky- 
blue  flowers  is  somewhat  decreased  by  the  be- 
draggled appearance  of  the  rest  of  the  plant. 

Every  true-born  American  ought  to  recognize 
the  opposite,  widely  spreading  leaves,  and  dull, 
whitish  flower-clusters  of  the  boneset,  a  plant 
which  cured,  or  which  was  supposed  to  cure,  so 
many  of  the  ailments  of  our  forefathers.  Even 
to-day  the  country  children  eye  it  ruefully  as  it 
hangs  in  long  dried  bunches  in  the  attic,  waiting 
to  be  brewed  at  the  slightest  warning  into  a  singu- 
larly nauseating  draught. 

Nearly  related  to  the  boneset  proper  is  the  Joe- 
Pye-weed,   with  tall  stout  stems  surrounded  by 
circles  of  rough  oblong  leaves,  and  with  intensely 
An  Indian  purple-pink  flowers,  which  are  massing  themselves 
cure  effectively  in  the  low  meadows.     In  parts  of  the 

country  no  plant  does  more  for  the  beauty  of  the 
landscape  of  late  summer.  It  is  said  to  have 
taken  its  name  from  an  Indian  medicine-man,  who 
found  it  a  cure  for  typhus  fever. 

The  European  bellflower  has  become  natural- 
ized in  New  England,  and  the  road  sides  now  are 
bright  with  its  graceful  lilac-blue  spires.  Another 

148 


PLATE   XXVI 


I     tfW 


\y  \ 


TURTLE-HEAD 

( 'In  lone  glabra 


EARLY   AUGUST 


brilliant  immigrant  which  is  blossom  in-  at  presenl 
is  the  purple  loosestrife.  The  botany  extends  its 
range  from  Nova  Scotia  to  Delaware,  but  I  find 
its  myriad  deep-hued  wands  only  on  the  swampy 
shores  of  the  Hudson,  and  in  the  marshes  which 
have  for  their  background  the  level  outline  oi 
the  Shawangunk  Mountains. 

Along    shaded    streams  the  jewel-weeds    hang  Strum 
their  spurred,  delicate  pockets;  these  are  some-  ;"';( 
times    pale  yellow,    again    deep    orange,   spotted 
with  reddish-brown.     In  certain  swampy   woods 
and  open  marshes  we  discover  the  feathery  pink- 
purple  spikes  of  the  smaller  fringed  orchis. 

Summer  seems  well  advanced  when  the  curved 
leafy  stems  of  the  Solomon's  seal  and  twisted- 
stalk  are  hung,  the  first  with  blackish,  the  second 
with  bright  red  berries.  Except  in  the  open  / 
fields,  fruits  now  are  more  conspicuous  than 
flowers.  Of  the  latter,  in  the  woods,  we  note 
chiefly  the  pink  blossoms  strung  upon  the  long 
leafless  stalks  of  the  tick-trefoil,  also  a  somewhat 
similar-looking  plant,  the  lop-seed,  whose  small  Lais 
pink  flowers  are  not  pealike,  however,  and  whose 
leaves  are  not  divided,  as  are  those  of  the  trefoils. 
The  inconspicuous,  two-petalled  blossoms  and 
thin  opposite  leaves  of  the  uninteresting  enchant- 
er's nightshade  are  abundant  everywhere. 

On  the  hill-side  the  velvety  crimson  plumes  of 
149 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

Staghom  the  staghorn  sumach  toss  upward  in  the  pride  of 
fruition.  Here  the  soft  cushion  of  the  pasture- 
thistle  yields  a  pleasant  fragrance,  and  violet 
patches  are  made  in  the  grass  by  the  incomplete 
heads  of  the  self-heal.  Against  the  dark  oval 
leaves  of  the  cockspur- thorn  lie  red -cheeked, 
apple-like  fruit.  Currant-like  clusters  of  choke- 
cherries  hang  from  the  thicket.  The  birds  are 
twittering  with  joy  at  the  feast  which  the  black- 

Red-osier  cap  bushes  are  yielding,  and  a  song-sparrow  flies 
to  the  top  of  a  red-osier  dogwood,  which  is  heavy 
with  its  burden  of  white  berries,  and  gives  vent 
to  a  few  bubbling  notes  with  an  ecstatic  energy 
which  threatens  almost  to  burst  its  little  body. 


150 


XI 
GOLDEN-ROD    AND    ASTER 


Along  the  road-side,  like  the  flowers  of  gold 
That  tawny  Incas  for  their  gardens  wrought, 
Heavy  with  sunshine  droops  the  golden-rod, 
And  the  red  pennons  of  the  cardinal-flower 
Hang  motionless  upon  their  upright  staves. 

— Whittier 


XI 
GOLDEN-ROD    AND    ASTER 

In  an  interesting  article  on  "American  Wild- 
Flowers  "  which  appeared  in  The  Fortnightly  Re- 
view some  years  ago,  the  English  naturalist,  Mr.  An 
Alfred  Wallace,  commented  upon  the  fact,  or 
what  seemed  to  him  the  fact,  that  nowhere  in  our 
country  could  be  seen  any  such  brilliant  masses 
of  flowers  as  are  yearly  displayed  by  the  moors 
and  meadows  of  Great  Britain. 

I  have  not  the  article  with  me  and  do  not  recall 
certainly  whether  Mr.  Wallace  saw  our  fields  ami 
hill-sides  in  their  September  dress,  but  I  do  re- 
member that  he  dwelt  chiefly  upon  our  earlier  Brilliancy 
flowers,  and  while,  of  course,  he  alluded  to  the 
many  species  of  golden-rods  and  asters  to  be 
found  in  the  United  States,  it  seems  to  me  quite 
impossible  that  he  could  have  seen  our  country 
at  this  season  and  yet  have  remained  uncon- 
vinced of  the  unusual  brilliancy  of  its  flora. 

Despite  the  beauty  of  our  woods  and  meadows 
when  starred  with  the  white  of  bloodroot  and 
anemone,and  with  the  purple-red  of  the  wake-robin, 

153 


lenge 


ACCORDING   TO   SEASON 

they  are  perhaps  less  radiant  than  those  of  England 
"  in  primrose-time."  And  although  our  summer 
landscape  glows  with  deep-hued  lilies  and  milk- 
weeds, and  glitters  with  black-eyed  Susans,  yet  in 
actual  brilliancy  it  must  yield  the  palm  to  an  Eng- 
lish field  of  scarlet  poppies.  But  when  September 
lines  the  road-sides  of  New  England  with  the  pur- 
ple of  the  aster,  and  flings  its  mantle  of  golden-rod 
over  her  hills,  and  fills  her  hollows  with  the  pink 
drifts  of  the  Joe-Pye-weed  or  with  the  intense  red- 
purple  of  the  iron-weed,  and  guards  her  brooks 
with  tall  ranks  of  yellow  sunflowers,  then  I  think 
that  any  moor  or  meadow  of  Great  Britain  might 
be  set  in  her  midst  and  yet  fail  to  pale  her 
glory. 

Of  the  hundred  or  so  classified  species  of  golden- 
rod,  about  eighty  belong  to  the  United  States.  Of 
Many  these  some  forty  can  be  found  in  our  Northeast- 
ern States.  The  scientific  name  of  the  genus, 
Solidago,  signifying  "  to  make  whole,"  refers  to 
the  faith  which  formerly  prevailed  in  its  healing 
powers.  It  belongs  to  the  composite  family, 
which  now  predominates  so  generally.  Its  small 
heads  are  composed  of  both  ray  and  disk  flowers, 
which  are  of  the  same  golden  hue,  except  in  one 
species.  These  flower-heads  are  usually  clustered 
in  one-sided  racemes,  which  spring  from  the  upper 
part  of  a  leafy  stem. 

154 


species  of 
golden-rod 


GOLDEN-ROD    AND    ASTKR 

One  of  the  commonest  species,  and  one  oi  the 
earliest   to   blossom,  is  the  rough  golden-rod,  a 

plant  with  hairy  stem,  thick,  rough,  oblong  leaves, 
and  small  heads,  each  one  of  which  is  made  up  of 
from  seven  to  nine  ray-flowers  and  from  four  to  Early  to 
seven  disk-flowers.  Occasionally  it  will  be  found 
growing  to  a  height  of  five  or  six  feet,  but  ordina- 
rily it  is  one  of  the  lowest  of  the  genus.  The  elm- 
leaved  species  is  a  somewhat  similar-looking  plant, 
with  thinner,  larger  leaves,  a  smooth  stern,  and 
with  only  about  four  ray-flowers  to  each  little 
head.  The  so-called  Canadian  golden-rod,  with 
its  tall,  stout  stem,  pointed,  sharply  toothed  leaves 
and  short  ray-flowers,  is  one  of  the  commonest 
varieties. 

The  lance-leaved  species  is  seldom  recognized  as 
a  member  of  the  tribe,  because  of  its  flat-topped 
clusters,  which   form    a  striking  contrast   to  the  Lance- 
slender,  wand-like  racemes  which  usually  charac-   ^" 
terize  the  genus.    It  is  often  mistaken  for  the  tansy, 
which  is  also  a  yellow  composite,  but  which    is 
quite  dissimilar  in  detail,  having  deeply  divided 
leaves,  the  segments  of  which  are  cut  and  toothed, 
and  sometimes  much  crisped  and  curled,  and  but- 
ton-like, deep-hued  flower-heads,  which  appear  to 
be  devoid  of  ray-flowers.     Strictly  speaking,  the   Tansy 
tansy  is  not  a  wild  flower  with  us.    It  was  brought 
from   Europe  to  the   gardens  of   New   England, 

155 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

where  it  was  raised  as  a  valuable  weed.  Now  it 
dyes  yellow  the  hollows  of  the  abandoned  home- 
stead and  strays  lawlessly  to  the  borders  of  the 
highway. 

The  tribe  of  asters  is  even  larger  than  that  of 
golden-rods,  numbering  some  two  hundred  spe- 
Asters  cies.  Italy,  Switzerland,  and  Great  Britain  each 
yield  but  one  native  variety,  I  believe,  although 
others  are  largely  cultivated,  the  Christmas  and 
Michaelmas  daisies  of  English  gardens  being 
American  asters.  One  species,  Aster  glacialis  of 
the  botanies,  is  found  growing  12,000  feet  above 
the  sea.  The  blue  and  purple  varieties,  those  hav- 
ing blue  and  purple  ray-flowers,  that  is,  are  much 
commoner  than  those  with  white  ray-flowers. 
Over  fifty  of  the  former  are  found  in  the  North- 
eastern States  to  about  a  dozen  of  the  latter. 

Of  the  white  species,  the  earliest  to  blossom  is 
the  corymbed  aster,  which  can  be  identified  by  its 
slender,  somewhat  zigzag  stems,  its  thin,  heart- 
ivbite  shaped  leaves,  and  its  loosely  clustered  flower- 
speaes  heads.  It  grows  plentifully  in  the  open  woods, 
especially  somewhat  northward.  In  swamps  and 
moist  thickets  we  find  the  umbelled  aster,  with  its 
long,  tapering  leaves,  and  flat  clusters,  which  it 
lifts  at  times  to  a  height  of  seven  feet.  A  beau- 
tiful variety  which  is  abundant  along  the  coast  is 
the  many-flowered  aster.    This  is  a  bushy,  spread- 

156 


PLATE   XXVII 


BALSAM   FR 

ibies  balsamea 


GOLDEN-ROD   AND    ASTER 

ing  plant,  somewhat  suggestive  of  an  evergreen, 
with  little,  narrow,  rigid  leaves,  and  small,  crowded 
flower-heads. 

The  tall,  stout  stems  and  large  violet  heads  of 
the  New  England  aster  mark  one  of  the  most 
striking  of  the  purple  species.  It  floods  with  rurpic 
color  the  low  meadows  and  moist  hollows  along  5/ 
the  roadside,  while  the  wood-borders  are  light- 
ened by  the  pale  blue  rays  of  the  heart-leaved 
variety. 

There  are  many  other  species  without  English 
titles  which  can  hardly  be  described  without  the 
aid  of  technical  terms.  Even  the  trained  botanist  Difficulty 
finds  himself  daunted  at  times  in  his  efforts  to  JJaJ*^ 
identify  the  various  species,  while  the  beginner 
is  sure  to  be  sorely  tried  if  he  set  himself  this 
task.  Yet  if  he  persevere  he  will  be  rewarded,  as 
every  road-side  will  supply  an  absorbing  problem  ; 
for  there  is  a  decided  fascination  in  detecting  the 
individual  traits  of  plants  that  to  the  untrained 
eye  have  nothing  to  distinguish  them  from  one 
another.  The  significance  of  the  scientific  title 
of  the  genus  Aster  is  easily  appreciated,  for  the 
effect  of  its  flowers  is  peculiarly  star-like. 

The  red-purple  clusters  of  the  iron-weed  are 
often  mistaken  for  asters  by  those  who  are  not 
sufficiently  observant  to  notice  that  its  flower- 
heads  are  composed  entirely  of  tubular  blossoms, 

157 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

being  without  the  ray-flowers  which  are  essential 
Iron-weed  to  an  aster.  In  the  iron- weed  the  involucre  of 
little  leaf-like  scales  which  always  surrounds  the 
flower-head  of  a  composite,  and  which  is  com- 
monly considered  a  calyx  by  the  unbotanical,  is 
usually  of  a  purplish  tint,  each  little  scale  being 
tipped  with  a  tiny  cusp  or  point.  Its  alternate 
leaves  are  long  and  narrow,  and  its  tough  stem  is 
responsible  for  its  common  name.  Its  scientific 
title,  Vernonia,  was  bestowed  in  honor  of  an  Eng- 
lish botanist  who  travelled  in  this  country  many 
years  ago. 

In  the  rich  woods  the  flat-topped  flower-clus- 
ters and  broad,  pointed  leaves  of  the  white 
In  woods  snakeroot,  a  near  relative  of  the  boneset,  are 
thickets  noticeable.  This  is  a  brighter-looking,  more  or- 
namental plant  than  its  celebrated  kinsman. 
Along  the  streams  and  in  the  thickets  the  sun- 
flowers lift  their  yellow  heads  far  above  our  own, 
while  the  wet  ditches  are  gilded  with  the  bright 
rays  of  the  bur-marigold. 

Somewhat  southward  the  large  heads  of  the  so- 
Soutbward  called  golden  aster  (which  is  not  an  aster  at  all) 
star  the  dry  fields  and  road  sides.  In  moist, 
shaded  spots  we  find  the  ephemeral  day-flower, 
or  Commelina,  with  its  two  sky-blue  petals  quaintly 
commemorating  the  two  Commelyns  (distin- 
guished   Dutch   botanists),  while  the  odd   petal, 

158 

«1  ft  COLLEGE  LIBRARY, 


GOLDEN-ROD   AND    ASTER 

which  can  boast  little  in  the  way  of  either  size  or 
color,  immortalizes  the  comparative  insignificance 
of  a  less  renowned  brother.  At  least  s<>  runs  the 
tradition. 

From  barren  sandy  banks  in  much  the  same  nut  am- 
latitudes  spring  the  branching  stems,  opposite 
aromatic  leaves,  and  clustered,  delicate  white  or 
lavender-colored  flowers  of  the  dittany,  one  of  the 
mints.  On  the  hill-side  the  little  corollas  of  the 
blue-curls  are  falling  so  as  to  reveal  within  the  BUu-cwU 
calyx  the  four  tiny  nutlets,  which  are  a  promi- 
nent characteristic  of  the  same  family,  while  the 
plant's  clammy,  balsam-scented  leaves  offer  an- 
other means  of  identification. 

Near  the  blue-curls  we  are  likely  to  find  the 
closely  spiked, pea-like  blossoms  and  three-divided 
leaves  of  the  bush-clover,  as  well  as  the  pink-  Busb-clov* 
purple  flowers  and  downy  and  also  clover-like 
foliage  of  another  of  the  tick-trefoils.  As  these 
two  groups  of  plants  have  so  many  points  in  com- 
mon that  it  is  somewhat  difficult  ordinarily  to  Tick 
distinguish  between  them,  it  is  well  to  remember 
that  the  calyx  of  a  tick-trefoil  is  usually  more 
or  less  two-lipped,  while  that  of  a  bush-clover  is 
divided  into  five  slender  and  nearly  equal  lobes. 

Two  other  members  of  the  pulse  or  pea  family 
are  frequently  encountered  during  (he  earlier  part 
of  this  month.     Along  the  grassy  lanes  that  wind 

159 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

in  and  out  among  the  woods  are  delicate  clusters 
Hog-pea-  of  pale  lilac  blossoms  nodding  from  a  stem  which 
■wild-bean  clambers  over  the  thicket  and  twines  about  the 
iron-weeds  and  asters.  I  believe  this  graceful 
plant  owes  its  unattractive  name  of  hog-peanut 
to  its  underground  fruit,  which  is  said  to  be  up- 
rooted and  devoured  by  hogs.  In  low  places, 
climbing  about  whatever  shrub  or  plant  it  chances 
to  find,  grows  the  wild-bean,  with  thick  clusters 
of  brown  and  pinkish  flowers  which  yield  a  deli- 
cate fragrance  somewhat  suggestive  of  violets. 
My  experience  has  been  that  these  four  members 
of  the  pulse  family  are  especially  abundant  along 
the  coast. 

The  salt-meadows  are  bright  with  the  purplish- 
pink  shells  of  the  sea-side  gerardia.  These  flowers, 
although  smaller,  are  almost  identical  in  shape 
Sea-side  with  those  of  their  relative,  the  yellow  false  fox- 
gerar  ta  giove)  which  we  found  in  the  woods  some  time 
ago.  The  slender  gerardia  is  a  similar-looking 
plant  which  abounds  farther  inland.  This  genus 
is  named  after  the  early  botanist,  Gerarde,  author 
of  the  famous  "  Herball."  Its  members  are  sup- 
posed to  be  more  or  less  parasitic  in  their  habits, 
drawing  their  nourishment  from  the  roots  of  other 
plants.  For  some  time  the  pale  foliage  of  the  salt- 
marsh  fleabane  has  been  conspicuous  by  contrast 
among   the  daily  deepening  flower-heads  of  the 

1 60 


GOLDEN-ROD    AND    ASTER 

milkwort  and  the  bright  green  leaves  of  the  marsh 

St.  John's-wort,  and  finally  it  spreads  before  us  SaU> 

its  pink  clusters  of  tiny,  strongly  scented  flowers.  Jh'jbanf 

Some  weeks  since  I  described  the  pickerel-weed 
and  arrow-head  as  in  their  prime,  but  it  must  be 
remembered  that  a  plant  which  flowers  in  August 
in  Southern  New  York  and  New  Jersey  may  not 
blossom  in  the  mountains  farther  north  until  Sep- 
tember. Along  the  Saranac  River  in  the  Adi- 
rondacks  a  few  days  ago  I  found  the  pickerel-  Pickm'- 
weed  more  fully  and  luxuriantly  in  bloom  than  on 
any  previous  occasion.  The  slender  spikes  of  deli- 
cate blue  flowers  reared  themselves  above  great 
beds  of  dark,  polished  leaves,  making  a  rich  bor- 
der to  the  winding  river.  Our  guide  told  us  that 
in  spring  the  pickerel  laid  their  eggs  among  these 
plants,  which  at  that  season  are  not  visible  above 
the  water,  and  that  later  the  moose  fed  upon  their 
leaves. 

The  shoals  were  still  starred  with  the  pure  blos- 
soms of  the  arrow-head,  while  in  the  current  of 
the  stream  trembled  the  thick  pink  spikes  of  the 
amphibious  knot-weed.  At  the  foot  of  the  rush- 
like leaves  and  golden-brown  spires  of  the  cat-tail, 
and  among  the  soft  round  heads  of  the  bur-reed.  Yillow 
protruded  the  knobby  buds  and  coarse,  bright  *°" 
flowers  of  the  yellow  pond-lily.  In  places  where 
the  logs  sent  down  the  river  the  previous  winters 

161 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

had  "jammed,"  the  iuzzy,  whitish  pyramids  of  the 
meadow-sweet  spired  upward  by  the  hundred. 

On  the  banks  the  blossoms  of  the  fire-weed  had 
made  way  for  the  pink,  slender  pods  which  were 
about  to  crack  open,  releasing  cloudy  masses  of 
silver-winged  seeds.  Great  clusters  of  delicate 
Osmunda  ferns  leaned  over  the  water's  edge.  The 
Turtle-  tall  stems  and  white,  huddled  flowers  of  the  turtle- 
head  hardly  succeeded  in  keeping  out  of  the  stream. 
As  a  dark  curve  of  shore  swept  in  sight,  against 
its  background  of  spruce,  birch,  hemlock,  and 
balsam-fir  gleamed 

"  The  cardinal  and  the  blood-red  spots, 
Its  double  in  the  stream." 


head 


flower 


In  this  flower  seems  to  culminate  the  vivid  beauty 
Cardinal  of  the  summer.  Yet,  despite  its  intense  color,  it 
is  so  sure  to  choose  a  cool,  rich  setting  that  it 
never  suggests  heat,  as  do  the  field  flowers  of  the 
earlier  year. 

Many  of  the  lily-pads  had  been  turned  over  by 
the  swift  current,  or,  perhaps,  by  a  passing  boat, 
and  showed  the  deep,  polished  pink  of  their  lower 
Water-  sides.  Thick  among  them  floated  their  placid, 
queenly  flowers,  with  their  green  and  pink-tinged 
sepals,  and  their  snowy  petals  which  pass  imper- 
ceptibly into  the  centre  of  golden  stamens.  The 
bright  red  twigs  of  the  dog-wood,  the  coral  clus- 

162 


lilies 


PLATE    X  X  yiM 


HOBBLE-BUSH 

I  "thurrntm  lan'anoides 


GOLDEN-ROD    AND    ASTER 

ters  of  the  now  beautiful  hobble-bush,  and  a  stray 
branch  of  crimson  maple  lightened  the  more 
thickly  wooded  banks. 

As  we  left  the  boat,  stepping  upon  the  elastic 
carpet  of  moss  and  pine-needles,  and  crossing  a 
fallen,  lichen-grown  tree-trunk,  we  discovered  the  Dalibarda 
low  white  flowers  and  violet-like  leaves  of  the  au,maa 
Dalibarda,  and  were  filled  with  wonder  and  de- 
light when  we  found  the  pink,  fragrant  bells  of 
the  Linncea  still  heralding  the  fame  of  their  great 
master.  The  tiny,  evergreen,  birch  -  flavored 
leaves  of  the  creeping  snowberry  almost  hid  from 
view  its  spotless  fruit,  but  the  peculiarly  bright- 
blue  berries  of  the  Clintonia  were  everywhere  con- 
spicuous as  they  rose  above  their  large  polished 
leaves.  Among  delicate  masses  of  the  clover- 
like foliage  of  the  wood-sorrel  lurked  a  late  pink- 
veined  blossom.  And  where  we  looked  only  for 
gleaming  clusters  of  scarlet  fruit  we  found  the  Unexpedea 
white,  petal-like  leaves  of  the  bunchberry.  If  in  ^^ 
June  we  were  saddened  by  the  first  transmuta- 
tions of  flower  into  fruit,  apparent  symbols  of  a 
year  that  is  no  longer  young,  in  September  we 
are  compensated  by  these  unexpected  emblems  of 
its  eternal  youth. 


163 


XII 
AUTUMN 


Oh,  sacrament  of  summer  days, 
Oh,  last  communion  in  the  haze, 
Permit  a  child  to  join, 

Thy  sacred  emblems  to  partake, 
Thy  consecrated  bread  to  break, 
Taste  thine  immortal  wine  ! 

—Emily  Dickinson 


ancwn 

trick 


XII 

AUTUMN 

On  every  perfect  day,  Nature,  like  a  beautiful 
woman,  cajoles  her  true  lovers  into  the  belief 
that  she  has  never  before  worn  so  becoming  a  An 
dress.  I  have  a  conviction  of  long  standing  that 
the  world  is  fairest  when  the  trees  are  first  laced 
with  green,  and  little  tender  things  are  pushing 
up  everywhere  and  bursting  into  miracles  of  del- 
icate bloom.  Yet,  with  each  heaven-born  morn- 
ing of  the  succeeding  seasons,  this  somewhat 
spasmodic  faith  is  weakly  surrendered.  It  is  im- 
possible to  wonder  at  Lowell's 

' '  What  is  so  rare  as  a  day  in  June  ?  " 

when  the  lanes  are  first  lined  with  white-flowered 
shrubs,  and  the  air  is  heavy  with  fragrance  and 
alive  with  bird-voices.  Later,  without  one  back-  Disputed 
ward  glance,  I  abandon  myself  to  the  ripe,  lus- 
cious beauty  of  midsummer.  And  though,  while 
taking  my  first  fall  walk  the  other  day  (for  the 
true  fall  is  not  here  till  well  on  in  September), 
and  while  noting  how  the  hills  were  veiled  by  a 

167 


supremacy 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

silvery  mist,  and  how  the  road  sides  wore  a 
many-hued  embroidery,  and  that  the  sumach  in 
the  swamp  was  beginning  to  look  like  the  burn- 
ing bush  on  Horeb,  I  felt  that  there  could  be  no 
beauty  like  this,  which  foretold  the  end;  yet  al- 
ready I  realize  that  before  long  the  purple  shad- 
ows will  lie  so  softly  upon  the  snowy  fields,  and 
the  faint  rose  of  dawn  or  twilight  will  flush  with 
such  tenderness  the  white  side  of  the  mountain, 
that  the  earth  may  seem  lovelier  in  her  shroud 
than  in  any  of  her  living  garments. 

But  it  is  altogether  human  to  set  especial  value 
upon  the  things  of  which  we  are  about  to  be  de- 
prived, and  now,  more  than  ever,  we  linger  out  of 
doors,  yielding  ourselves  to  influences  which  lie 
A  bene-  upon  our  spirits  like  a  benediction,  storing  our 
minds  with  images  which,  among  less  inspiring 
surroundings,  will 

"  flash  upon  that  inward  eye, 
Which  is  the  bliss  of  solitude." 

Few  Few  flowers  are  abroad,  barring  the  asters   and 

flowers  ,  ,  ,  ,  r  .  .  .  , 

golden-rods,  yet  these  few  we  invest  with  a  pecul- 
iar interest  and  affection,  experiencing  a  sensation 
of  gratitude,  almost,  as  toward  some  beings  who 
have  stood  stanch  when  the  multitudes  fell  away. 
No  group  of  plants  belong  more  distinctively 
to  the  season   than  do  the   gentians.     Of   these, 

168 


PLATE    XXIX 


FRUIT  OF  PAINTED  TRILLIUM 

Trillium  •  rythrocarpum 


AUTUMN 


the  most  famous,  though  by  no  means  the  most 
frequent  representative  is  the  fringed  gentian,  a  / 

flower  which  owes,  I  fancy,  much  of  its  reputation  gih 
to  Bryant's  well-known  lines;  not  that  it  does  not 
deserve  the  interest  which  has  centred  about  it, 
but  that,  while  everyone  has  heard  of  it,  compara- 
tively few  people  seem  to  have  ferreted  out  its 
haunts.  Probably  Bryant,  also,  is  largely  respon- 
sible for  the  somewhat  inaccurate  notions  which 
are  afloat  concerning-  its  usual  season  of  blooming. 
This  is  in  September,  long  before  the 

"  woods  are  bare  and  birds  are  flown  "  ; 

although  Thoreau,  if  I  remember  rightly,  records 
that  he  found  it  in  flower  as  late  as  November  7th, 
when,  certainly, 

"  frosts  and  shortening  days  portend 
The  aged  year  is  near  his  end." 

My  first  fringed  gentian  was  the  reward  of  a 
forty-mile  drive,  taken  one  cold  autumn  day  for  . 
the  sole  purpose  of  paying  court  to  its  blue  loveli- 
ness. It  enticed  us  into  a  wet,  green  meadow 
where,  picking  our  way  from  hummock  to  hum- 
mock, without  appreciably  diminishing  the  supply, 
we  gathered  one  tall  cluster  after  another  <>t  the 
delicate,  deep-hued  blossoms.  In  bud  the  fringed 
petals  are  twisted  one  about  the  other.     When  the 

169 


Jn  pn 


ACCORDING  TO   SEASON 

day  is  cloudy,  or  even,  I  should  judge,  if  the  wind 
is  high,  the  full-blown  flower  closes  in  the  same 
Variations  fashion.  The  individuals  which  grow  in  the  shade 
are  even  more  attractive  than  those  which  frequent 
the  open.  Their  blue  is  lighter,  with  a  silvery 
tinge  which  I  do  not  recall  in  any  other  flower. 
Until  this  year  I  have  never  encountered  the  plant 
in  my  ordinary  wanderings,  but  during  the  past 
few  days  I  have  found  it  bordering  in  abundance 
the  Berkshire  lanes.  Being  an  annual,  we  cannot 
predict  with  certainty  its  whereabouts  from  year 
to  year,  as  its  seeds  may  be  washed  to  some  dis- 
tance in  the  moist  regions  which  usually  it  favors. 
Far  less  delicate  and  uncommon,  but  still  at- 
Ciosed  tractive,  is  the  closed  gentian.  This  is  usually  a 
gentian  stoutj  rather  tall  plant,  with  crowded  clusters  of 
deep  blue  or  purple  flowers,  which  never  open, 
looking  always  like  buds.  It  grows  along  the 
shaded  road  sides,  and  is  easily  confused  with  other 
members  of  the  group,  as  both  the  five-flowered 
and  soapwort  gentians  have  narrow  corollas, 
which  often  appear  almost  closed. 

Certain  New  England  woods  and  road  sides  are 

now  tinged  with  the  pale  blue  or  at  times  pinkish 

Five-  blossoms  of  the  five-flowered  species,  while  in  the 

gmtZtf      Adirondacks   in   early   September,   parts   of   the 

shore  of  the  Raquette  River  were  actually  "  blued  " 

with  what  I  take  to  have  been  the  lance-leaved 

170 


AUTUMN 


gentian,  Gentiana  linearis  of  the  botany,  former-  Lance- 
ly  considered  a  variety  of  the  soap  wort  species.  gm^an 
This  conjecture  as  to  their  identity  was  never  veri- 
fied, as  the  specimens  gathered  for  analysis  were 
thrown  away  by  the  guide  during  a  storm  which 
overtook  us  on  one  of  the  "  carries." 

In  the  wet  meadows  which  harbor  the  fringed 
gentian  we  find  also  the  white  or  cream-colored  Grass  of 
flowers  of  the  grass  of  Parnassus,  their  five  veiny  arnassus 
petals  crowning  a  tall,  slender  stem,  which  is 
clasped  below  by  a  little  rounded  leaf.  There  is  a 
suggestion  of  spring  in  a  fresh  cluster  of  these 
blossoms,  perhaps  owing  to  a  superficial  resem- 
blance to  the  anemones,  or  it  may  be  because  they 
have  little  of  the  hardy  look  of  other  fall  flowers. 

Here,  too,  abounds  the  last  orchid  of  the  year, 
the  ladies'  tresses,  with  small  white  flowers  grow-  Ladies' 
ing  in  a  slender,  twisted  spike.  Occasionally  this 
plant  becomes  ambitious.  Leaving  the  low,"  wet 
places"  to  which  it  is  assigned  by  the  botany,  it 
climbs  far  up  the  hill-sides.  I  never  remember 
seeing  it  in  greater  abundance  or  more  fragrant 
and  perfect  than  in  a  field  high  up  on  the  Catskill 
Mountains.  The  flowers  that  we  care  for  we  are 
apt  to  associate  with  the  particular  spot  in  which 
we  found  them  first  —  or  at  their  best  —  and  the 
mention  or  sight  of  this  little  orchid  instantly  re- 
calls that  breezy  upland  with  its  far-reaching  view, 

171 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 


Canadian 
violet 


Mountain- 
ash 


and  its  hum  of  eager  bees,  which  were  sucking 
the  rare  sweets  of  the  late  year  from  the  myriad 
spires  among  which  I  lay  one  September  morning. 

Another  plant  linked  for  me  with  the  same  re- 
gion and  season  is  the  so-called  Canadian  violet. 
Till  late  September,  along  a  winding  mountain- 
road,  one  could  gather  great  bunches  of  its  fresh, 
leafy  -  stemmed  flowers  —  white,  yellow -centred, 
fragrant,  with  purple  veins  above  and  violet- 
washed  below.  Near  them  the  wild-strawberries 
were  abundantly  in  blossom,  as  they  are  now  to 
some  extent  in  Berkshire. 

And  whenever  I  see  a  depauperate  mountain- 
ash  forlornly  decorating  a  corner  of  some  over- 
civilized  country-place,  languishing  like  a  hand- 
some young  barbarian  in  captivity,  I  remember 
how  that  same  road  brought  one  to  the  forest 
which  crowned  the  mountain's  top — to  a  dimly 
lighted  path,  which  led  through  mossy  fern-beds 
till  it  reached  a  sudden  opening,  where  two  great 
hemlocks  made  a  frame,  and  a  dark,  distant  moun- 
tain formed  a  background  for  the  feathery  foliage 
and  scarlet  clusters  of  a  superbly  vigorous  speci- 
men of  this  beautiful  tree. 

If  we  leave  the  mountains  and  visit  once  more 
the  salt-meadows,  we  notice  a  multitude  of  erect, 
narrow-leaved  stems,  which  toward  their  summits 
are  studded  with  soft,  rose-purple  flower-heads. 

172 


PLATE   XXX 


GRASS  OF  PARNASSUS 

Parnasaia  <  'aroliniana 


AUTUMN 


This  is  the  blazing  star,  one  of  the  latest  blooming  Biasing 
and  most  beautiful  of  the  composites. 

Just  back  of  the  beach  the  gray  sand-hills  are 
warm  with  the  slender  branches  and  little  rose- 
colored  flowers  of  the  sand  knotweed,  a  patch  of  Sand-bills 
which  reminded  Thoreau  of  "  a  peach-orchard  in 
bloom."  The  bright-hued,  leafless  stems  of  the 
glasswort  define  the  borders  of  the  road.  Only 
a  close  examination  convinces  us  of  the  existence 
of  the  minute  flowers  of  this  odd-looking  plant,  for 
they  are  so  sunken  in  its  thickened  upper  joints 
as  to  be  almost  invisible. 

Now  and  then  we  come  across  an  evening  prim- 
rose with  blossoms  so  wide  open,  delicate,  and  fra- 
grant, and  with  leaf  and  stem   so  lacking  their 
usual  rankness,  that  we  can  hardly  connect  it  with 
the  great,  coarse  plants  whose  brown,  flowerless 
spikes  are  crowding  the  edge  of  the  highway.    In  Sea-side 
this  neighborhood  the  brilliant  flowers  and  fleshy  ioldm-rod 
leaves  of  the  sea-side  golden-rod  are  everywhere 
conspicuous,  while    farther   inland    the   so-called 
blue-stemmed  species,  bearing  its  clustered  heads 
in  the  leaf-angles  along  the  stem,  begins  to  predom- 
inate.    On  the  mountains  and  in  the  dry  thickets 
of  the  lowlands  we  encounter  occasionally  one  of 
the  most  attractive  of  the  tribe — the  sweet  golden-  Sweet 
rod,  with  shining,  dotted,  narrow   leaves,  which  g0 
yield,  when  crushed,  a  refreshing,  anise-like  odor. 

173 


ACCORDING   TO   SEASON 

The  different  asters  are  affording  the  loveliest 

Showy  shades  of  blue,  purple,  and  lavender.  Pre-eminent 
for  richness  of  color  and  beauty  of  detail  are  the 
large,  violet-hued,  daisy-like  heads  of  the  showy 
aster,  a  species  which  is  found  growing  in  sandy 
soil  along  the  coast.  In  the  woods,  nodding  from 
tall  stems,  we  notice  the  graceful,  bell-like  flower- 
heads  of  the  rattlesnake-root. 

A  friend  writes  me  that  in  parts  of  Connecticut 

Great  blue  the  swamps  are  still  bright  with  the  great  blue  lo- 
belia, and  that  the  yellow  flowers  of  the  bur-mari- 
gold are  abundant  in  the  road-side  ditches.  This 
last-named  plant  holds  its  own  through  the  first 
frosts  till  well  on  in  November.  Its  dull-looking 
sister,  the  common  stick-tight,  whose  ugly,  brown- 
ish flower-heads  are  frequent  in  moist,  waste 
places,  is  equally  tenacious  of  life  —  and  of  our 
clothes,  to  which  its  barbed  seed-vessels  cling  so 

stick- tight  persistently  that  every  walk  across  country  means 
that  we  have  innocently  extended  its  unwelcome 
sway. 

Indeed,  we  can  hardly  spend  a  morning  out  of 
doors  at  this  season  without  having  our  attention 

Seeddis-  drawn  constantly  to  the  many  ingenious  devices 
adopted  by  the  different  plants  for  the  distribu- 
tion of  their  seed.  On  ourselves  and  on  our  dogs 
we  find  not  only  the  troublesome  barbs  of  the 
stick- tight,  but  also  the  flat,  hooked  pods*  of  the 

174 


AUTUMN 


tick-trefoils,  the  bristly  fruit  of  avens  and  goose- 
grass,  and  the  prickly  heads  of  the  burdock.  In  Barbs  and 
the  thicket  the  birds  are  already  stripping  the 
dog-woods  of  their  red,  blue,  and  lead-colored  ber- 
ries, either  releasing  the  seeds  upon  the  spot  or 
carrying  them  to  some  other  and,  perhaps,  more 
hospitable  neighborhood  ;  while  the  coral  beads 
of  the  beautiful  black  alder,  the  red  or  purple 
sprays  of  the  viburnums,  the  bright  haws  of  the  Berries 
white-thorn,  the  scarlet  pennants  which  stream 
from  the  barberry  bushes,  and  the  half-hidden 
berries  of  the  partridge-vine,  tempt  them  to  a 
feast  which  will  prove  as  advantageous  to  host 
as  to  guest. 

If  the  seeds  are  not  trapped  out  in  a  fashion 
which  renders  them  attractive  to  animals  their 
transportation  generally  is  provided  in  some 
other  manner.  Notice  how  the  great  pasture- 
thistle  is  slowly  swelling  into  a  silvery  cushion  Silky  sails 
which  a  few  brisk  winds  will  disintegrate.  Watch 
the  pods  of  the  milkweed  crack  open,  revealing 
symmetrical  packs  (the  beloved  "  fishes  "  of  child- 
hood) of  golden-brown  seeds,  to  each  one  of  which 
is  tacked  a  silky  sail  which  finally  unfurls  and 
floats  away  with  its  burden.  Go  down  to  the 
brook  and  finger  lightly  the  pod  of  the  jewel-  Jewel-weed 
weed,  or  touch-me-not.  You  will  become  so  fas- 
cinated  with   the    ingenious    mechanism    which 

175 


ha^el 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

causes  the  little  seed-vessel  to  recoil  from  your 
touch  with  an  elastic  spring  which  sends  the 
seeds  far  into  the  neighboring  thicket,  that  you 
will  hardly  leave  till  the  last  tiny  adventurer  has 
been  started  on  his  life-journey. 

On  the  hill-side  grows  a  shrub  with  wavy- 
toothed  leaves,  and  a  nut-like  fruit  which  has 
been  ripening  all  summer.     We  know  that  this  is 

Witch-  the  witch-hazel,  because  little  bunches  of  fragrant, 
narrow-petalled  yellow  flowers  are  bursting  from 
the  branches.  All  the  blossoms  may  not  appear 
for  some  time  yet,  but  when  the  fruit  has  ripened 
and  the  leaves  are  fallen  they  will  surprise  us  like 
a  golden  prophecy  of  spring.  Break  off  and 
carry  home  a  fruiting  branch.  Soon  the  capsules 
will  snap  elastically  apart,  discharging  in  every 
direction  their  black,  bony  contents  ;  the  action 
of  the  parent  plant  somewhat  recalling  that  of 
the  mother  bird  who  pushes  her  young  from  the 
edge  of  the  nest  that  they  may  learn  to  shift  for 
themselves. 

Many  seeds  are  washed  by  water  to  more  or 

Washed  less  remote  neighborhoods.  Some  become  at- 
tached with  clods  of  earth  to  the  feet  of  birds, 
and  are  borne  to  other  regions,  where  they  thrive 
or  perish,  according  to  their  power  of  adapting 
themselves  to  their  new  environment.  How  far 
this  last  class  of  travellers  may  journey  we  real- 

176 


by  water 


FLATE   XXXI 


FRUIT  OF  MOUNTAIN   MAPLE 

Ace?'  spicatum 


AUTUMN 


fence  or 

stone  -.vail  ? 


ize  especially  at  this  season,  when  nearly  every  Migrating 
day  shows  us  fresh  flocks  of  birds  which  have 
come  under  the  influence  of  that  strange  power 
which  moves  them  "  to  stretch  their  wings  tow- 
ard the  South,"  bringing  them  (even  the  more 
timid  species)  this  morning  to  our  very  doorstep 
in  search  of  food,  inducing  them  to-night  to  re- 
sume a  voyage  which  may  terminate  only  in  the 
tropics. 

Each  walk  abroad  brings  up  new  questions  for 
settlement.  The  last  is  one  of  preference  pure 
and  simple,  namely,  whether  the  "  snake"  fence  Snake 
or  the  stone  wall  affords  the  greater  possibilities. 
Till  recently  I  had  no  doubt  as  to  the  aesthetic 
superiority  of  the  stone  wall.  It  has  such  infinite 
capacity  for  tumbling,  for  taking  on  a  coat  of 
lichens  and  mosses — for  wearing  soft  tints  of  time 
and  weather.  When  quite  prostrate,  its  ruin  is 
hidden  so  tenderly  by  blood-red  tangles  of  Vir- 
ginia creeper  or  silky  plumes  of  clematis,  and  by 
masses  of  soft  ferns,  which  nestle  lovingly  about 
its  feet.  In  the  presence  of  the  ideal  stone  wall 
— and  I  know  a  hundred  such — there  seems  no 
room  for  indecision. 

Yet  the  crooked  course  of  the  snake  fence  is 
undeniably  picturesque.  Its  "  zigzags"  offer  sin- 
gularly choice  retreats  for  great  clumps  of  purple- 
stalked,  red-stained,  heavy-fruited  poke-weed,  for 

177 


ACCORDING   TO    SEASON 

Indecision  groups  of  yellow-brown  Osmunda  ferns,  and  for 
festoons  of  bitter-sweet,  with  orange  pods  split 
open  to  reveal  their  scarlet -coated  seeds.  No 
stone  wall  can  yield  such  occasional  vistas  of 
meadow  beyond,  bright  with  golden-rod  and  aster, 
and  framed  by  brilliant  strands  of  blackbenw  vine. 
When  its  plants  and  shrubs  and  creepers  are  left 
quite  unmolested,  free  to  follow  its  devious  course, 
to  twine  about  its  posts,  or  to  peep  confidingly 
over  its  topmost  rails,  then,  I  own,  my  loyalty  be- 
gins to  waver. 

But  after  a  time  the  rambler  out  of  doors  grows 

Unanswered  accustomed  to  leaving  his  questions  unanswered. 

questions  Plant-nature,  especially,  he  finds  almost  as  incon- 
sistent and  contradictory  as  his  own.  Surprises 
soon  cease  to  be  surprising.  Even  now  the  rank 
stems  of  the  chicory  are  studded  with  bright  blue 
blossoms.  The  sun  shines  warm  and  sweet  upon 
grass  which  is  green  and  tender  as  in  June. 
Soothing  insect-murmurs  so  fill  the  air  that  the 
absence  of  bird-notes  is  hardly  felt.  Clover-heads 
are  full  and  deep-hued,  yielding  stores  of  nectar  to 
the  bees.  All  about  are  bright  groups  of  black- 
eyed  Susan — a  plant  which  two  months  ago  looked 
brown  and  "  done  for."  Feathery  clusters  of  wild- 
carrot  spread  themselves  beside  the  fruiting  um- 
bels, which  look  like  collapsed  birds'-nests.  Daisies 
are  fresh,  and  buttercups  so  glossy  that  one  can 

178 


AUTUMN 


hardly  resist  brushing-  them  with  one's  lips  to  see 
if  they  are  actually  wet. 

Yet  the  maple  which  leans  clear  across  the 
brook  is  already  crimson,  and  when  we  reach  the 
rocky  hill-side  the  yellow  fronds  of  the  Dicksonia 
exhale  a  subtle  fragrance  which  suggests  decay. 
Another  faint,  elusive  odor,  starting  a  train  of 
equally  elusive  memories,  floats  upward  from  the 
only  flower  at  our  feet,  the  "  life-everlasting," 
which,  as  children,  I  hardly  know  why,  we  always 
associated  with  graves.  Here,  where  there  is 
none  of  the  life  and  freshness  of  the  meadow  be-  Ufe-evtr- 
low,  it  seems  to  decorate  the  grave  of  summer.  astmg 
Dr.  Holmes  says  concerning  it:  "  A  something 
it  has  of  sepulchral  spicery,  as  if  it  had  been 
brought  from  the  core  of  some  great  pyramid, 
where  it  had  lain  on  the  breast  of  a  mummied 
Pharaoh.  Something,  too,  of  immortality  in  the 
sad,  faint  sweetness  lingering  long  in  its  lifeless 
petals.  Yet  this  does  not  tell  why  it  fills  my  eyes 
with  tears,  and  carries  me  in  blissful  thought  to 
the  banks  of  asphodel  that  border  the  "  River  of 
Life." 


179 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Roman  numerals  refer  to  plates  in  the  last  edition  of  "  How  to 
know  the  Wild  Flowers." 

PAGE 

Adder's  mouth XCVII,  105,  116 

Adder's  tongue LIII,  52,  53,  57,  65 

Alder,  black 175 

Alders 17,  22,  45,  109 

Anemone II,  57 

summer 136 

Arbutus,  trailing LXXXV,  28,  34,  47,  85 

Arethusa CXXXVI,  88 

Arrow-head 145,  161 

Ash,  mountain 172 

Aster,  golden 158 

Asters XLII,  XLIII,  CXLVII,  CXLVIII,  16,  122,  125,  153 

154,  156,  157,  174 

corymbed 156 

many-flowered 156 

New  England CXLVI,  157 

umbelled 156 

Avens LXV,  175 

Azalea XCII,  73,  109 

Balm  of  Gilead 32 

Baneberry    135 

Barberry 175 

Barn-swallows 74 

Basilarchia 1 19 

Bay-berry 88,  108,  109 

Beach-pea 133 

1S3 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Bean,  wild    CLVIII,    160 

Bellflower 148 

Bellwort LVI,  52,  53,   72 

Birches 22,43,58,    137 

Birds,  winter 14 

spring 22,   27 

of  May 74 

of  June 95 

Bishop-weed,  mock 142 

Bitter-sweet 178 

Blackberries 116 

Blackberry,  running  swamp 103 

vines 94,    108 

Blackbirds,  red-winged 74 

Black-eyed  Susan 127,    178 

Bladder-campion 135 

Bladder-fern 50,  53 

Bladderwort LXXI,    107,  1 14,   116 

Blazing  star CL,    1 73 

Bloodroot I,  46,   57 

Blueberry  blossoms 85 

Bluebirds 14    24 

Blue-curls 159 

Blue-eyed  grass 69,  83 

Bobolink 75,  84 

Bog  bulrush 115 

Bog  rush 115 

Boneset XLIV,    148 

Botrychium 49 

Brakes „_„„ 110 

Brambles 17 

Broom,  English 34 

Bugbane 134 

Bunch-berry XVIII,  65,  71,    163 

Burdock 1 75 

Bur-marigold LXXXI,  158,   174 

184 


INDIX 


Burnet,  great !  !  - 

Bur-reed 

Bush-clover 

Bush  honeysuckle I  XVI,  i  ; ; 

Buttercups ; 

Butterflies l2\ 

Monarch  or  Milkweed i  : 

Butterfly-weed    ('Will. 

Button-bush XXXIII,  144 

Calopogon XCVIII,  10 ; 

Calypso  borealis 

Campion,  bladder 135 

Cancer-root 70 

Cardinal- flower 1  X  X  \ 

Carrion-vine XLVIII,   93 

Carrot,  wild 147,  1  ;"> 

Cat-bird 74,  no 

Cat-briar 93 

Caterpillars 1 20 

Cat-tail l6l 

Cedar  waxwing 22 

Chairmaker's  rush 114 

Cherry-trees,  wild ~  2 

Chestnuts 43 

Chickadees 14.  22 

Chickweed I  s 

Chicory CXLV,  14s.  178 

Chipping  sparrow 2  7 

Choke-cherries 72-  '5° 

Cinnamon  fern 4^.  10~.  l]h 

Cinquefoil 1  \  I  V .    7  ' 

Clay-weed    5° 

Clematis 145.  '77 

Clethra HO,   117.  145 

Cliff-swallows 74 

185 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Clintonia LVIII,  65,  66,    163 

Clover 79 

bush 159 

Clover-heads 178 

blood-red 82 

Cockle,  corn 138 

Cockspur-thorn 1 50 

Cohosh,  blue 51 

black XXXI,   134 

Colic-root 103 

Coltsfoot 50 

Columbine CXVII,  57,  72 

Co??imelina 158 

Composite  family 16,  127,  147,  148,  154,173 

Cone-flower 127 

Corn-cockle 138 

Corpse-plant 135 

Coughwort 50 

Cowbane,  spotted 117 

Cranberries 85,  116 

mountain 85 

Cranberry  vines 105,  108 

Crinkle-root V,  48 

Crocus 32,    35 

Crows 13 

Cyclamen 34,  85 

Cynthia LVII,  71 

Cyperus,  red-rooted 115 

Daffodil 32,  33 

Daisies 32,   34,  83,  128,  178 

Michaelmas 156 

Dalibarda 163 

Dandelions 70,  128 

Darning-needle 121 

Day-flower 158 

186 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Dicksonia 1 79 

Disk-flowers 127 

Dittany 159 

Dodder 145 

Dog  violets 59 

Dogbane XCIX,    137 

Dogwood XIY,    71,  93,  162,  175 

pink 72 

red-osier XV,  1 50 

Dropseed 115 

Dutchman's  breeches 72 

Elder 116,  133,  135 

red-berried 72 

Elecampane LXXVIII,  148 

Elms 32,  43.  45>  4& 

Enchanter's  nightshade 149 

English  sparrows 35 

Erytkronium 65 

Evening  primrose LXX VI  I,  145,  1 73 

day-blooming 83 

Everlasting 1 79 

early 28 

Ferns 102,  162,  177,  178 

bladder 50 

cinnamon 49,  102,  116 

interrupted 49,  102 

marsh  shield 104,  108 

New  York  shield 105 

royal 102,  109 

rusty  woodsia 47 

sensitive 108,  1 10 

"  Fiddleheads  " 49 

Field  flowers 83 

Finch,  purple 27 

187 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Fireweed CIV,  1 36,  162 

Flag,  purple 69,  83 

Fleabane,  salt-marsh 160 

Foam-flower 61 

Foreign  flowers 33 

Fox-sparrows 26 

Foxglove,  false LXXXIII,  160 

Genista,   yellow 34 

Gentiana  linearis 171 

Gentians 168 

closed CLI,  1 70 

five-flowered 1 70 

fringed CLII,  169 

lance-leaved 1 70 

soapwort 1 70 

Geranium,  wild CXXX,  69 

Gerardia,  seaside 122,  160 

slender 160 

Ginger,  wild CLIV,  53,  72 

Glasswort 1 73 

Golden-rod 16,  122,  125,  153,  155 

blue-stemmed 1 73 

Canadian 155 

elm-leaved 155 

lance-leaved 155 

r°ugh 155 

sea-side 1 73 

sweet 1 73 

Gold-finch 95 

Gold-thread 65 

Goose-grass 175 

Grackles,  purple 25 

Grape,  wild 93 

Grass  of  Parnassus XLVII,  171 

Grass-pink XCVIII,  103,  116 

188 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Grasses 16,    112,115,122 

Grasshoppers 1 2  r 

Grosbeak 95 

Habenaria  tridentata 109 

Hawk 14 

Hazel 27 

Heath  family 34,  85,  86 

Hellebore,   false 44 

Hemlock 16 

water 137,  144 

Hermit  thrush 95,  96 

Hickories 43 

Hobble-bush 73,  163 

Hog-peanut CXLIV,    160 

Honeysuckle,  bush LXVI,  135 

white  swamp XXIII,  no,  133 

Hoofs 50 

Hop-clover,  yellow 82 

Horse-foot 50 

Huckleberry  blossoms 85 

Hyacinth 32 

Hylas 27 

Indian  cucumber-root LX,  9 1 

Indian  moccasin 66 

Indian  pipe 135 

Indigo,  wild 34,  134 

Indigo-bird 95 

Interrupted  fern 49,  102 

Iron-weed CXLIX,    154,  157 

Jack-in-the-pulpit CLV,  64 

Jewel-weed LXXVI,  122,  149,  175 

Joe-Pye-weed CXVI,  148,  154 

Jonquils,  yellow 2>Z 

Juncoes 14.  22 

189 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Kentucky  grass no 

Kinglets 27 

Knotweed,  amphibious 161 

sand 1 73 

Labrador  tea XXV,  73 

Ladies' tresses XLVI,  103,  171 

Lady's  slipper,  pink XC,  66 

showy XC VI,  90 

yellow LXI,  67 

Lambkill XCV,  88 

Larches 88 

Laurel,  mountain XXI,  34,  87 

sheep 5,  88 

Lavender,  sea CXLIII,    142 

Leatherwood 51 

Life-everlasting 1 79 

Lily,  meadow LXX,    130 

Turk's-cap CXXII,    1 16 

water 162 

wood CXXI,  132 

yellow  pond 161 

Lily  family 64 

Lily  of  the  valley,  wild 65 

Linncea 163 

borealis LXXX V,  90 

Lion's  foot 122 

Liverwort CXXVI,  28,  ,14,  50,  51,  52,  57 

Lobelia,  great  blue 1 74 

Loosestrife,  four-leaved LXVII,  137 

purple CVII,    149 

yellow LXVIII,  94,    137 

Lopseed 149 

Lupine CXXXIII,   70 

Maianthemum Ill,  64,  66 

Mallows,  swamp 143 

190 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Maple  keys 21 

Maples 21,  32,  58,  163,    179 

mountain 72 

striped 72 

sugar 43 

swamp 42 

Marigold,  bur LXXXI,   158,    174 

marsh LI,  44 

Marsh  grass,  smooth 115 

Marsh  marigolds LI,  44 

Marsh  rosemary 142 

Marsh  St.  John's-wort (XII,  117,   142,    161 

Marsh  shield-fern 104,    108 

May-apple V,  68 

Meadow-beauty CVIII,    no 

Meadow-lark 27 

Meadow-lily LXX,    130 

Meadow-parsnip 71,    137 

Meadow-rue,  early 53 

tall 133 

Meadow-sweet XXXV,  34,    162 

Medeola 91 

Milkweed 1 29,  130,    175 

four-leaved 1 30 

purple 129 

swamp 130 

Milkwort XCIV,  143,    161 

Mints 159 

Mitrewort VIII,  61 

Mock  bishop-weed 142 

Moneses 90 

grandiflora 86 

Monkey-flower 145 

Moorland  princess 114 

Moosewood 5 1 ,  72 

Moth-mullein 146 

191 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Mountain-ash 172 

Mountain-cranberry 85 

Mountain-laurel XXI,  34,   87 

Mountain-maple 72 

Mullein LXXIII,    146 

moth LXXIV,    146 

Mustard  family 18,   71 


New  Jersey  tea XXIX,    134 

New  York  shield-fern 105 

Nightingale  34 

Nightshade,  enchanter's 149 

Nuthatches 14 

Oak  leaves 1 5,  43 

Olive-backed  thrush 95 

Orchids 6,  68,  88,  90,  103,  105,  144,  171 

Orchis,  purple-fringed,  smaller 149 

ragged-fringed L,   106,  1 16 

showy LXXXVII,  48 

three-toothed 109,  1 16 

yellow-fringed 144 

Oriole 75 

Osiers 17 

Osmunda 102,  162,  178 

Painted  cup CXIX,  84 

Panic  grass 115 

Pansies 32,  60 

Pappoose-root 51 

Parsley 142,  144 

Parsley  family 147 

Parsnip,  meadow 71,  137 

Partridge-vine XXXII,  48,  91,  175 

Partridges 96 

Pea,  beach 133 

192 


JNDKX 


PAGE 

Pea  family 159 

Peabody  bird 27 

Peanut,  hog 160 

Pickerel-weed CXL,   14;,  161 

Pink,  grass XCVIII,   103,   [l6 

sea (IX,  141 

wild LXXXIX,  6i,  66 

Pink  family 135 

Pipewort 108 

Pipsissewa XX VII,  87 

Pitch-pine 16 

Pitcher-plant CXX,  89 

Poison  ivy XLIX,  94 

Poke  weed XXXIV,  177 

Polygala,  fringed XCIII,  6,  62,  143 

Pond-lily,  yellow 161 

Poplars 22,  32 

Primrose 34 

evening LXXVII,  145,  173 

evening,  day-blooming 83 

Protective  mimicry 67,  119,  121 

Pulse  family 159 

Purple  finch 27 

Purple  grackles 25 

Pyrola,  one-flowered 86 

Pyrolas 86 

Radish,  wild 137 

Ragwort LIX,  71 

Raspberries   137 

Rattlesnake  fern 49 

Rattlesnake  root 1 74 

Rattlesnake  weed LXII,  94 

Red-root 134 

Red-start 95 

Rhododendron XXII,  88 

193 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Rhodora 73 

Robins 14,  22 

Root-leaves 17 

Rose,  wild 88,  109,  116,  137 

Rosemary,   marsh 142 

Royal  fern 102,  109 

Rue,  meadow 133 

Rushes 115 

Rusty  woodsia 46 

Sabbatia 141 

chloroides 142 

St.  John's-wort LXXII,  137 

marsh CXII,  117,  142,  161 

Salt-marsh  fleabane 160 

Saxifrage , VII,  52 

Scirpus  cyperinus 114 

Sea-lavender CXLIII,  142 

Sea-pinks CIX,  141 

Sedges 112-115 

Self-heal CXXXV,  1 50 

Sensitive  fern 108,  1 10 

Shad-bush 47 

Sheep-laurel XCV,  5,  88 

Sheep-sorrel 5 

Shield-fern,  marsh 104,  108 

New  York 105 

Shooting-star 85 

Shrubs,  in  winter 16 

of  May 72 

of  June 93 

of  Midsummer 133 

Silkweed 130 

Skullcap,  larger CXXXI,  94 

Skunk-cabbage CLIII,  22,  44 

Smooth  marsh  grass 115 

IQ4 


INDEX 


PACE 

Snakeroot,  white X  LV,  1 58 

Snowberry,  creeping 163 

Snow-bunting 14 

Solidago  154 

Solomon's  seal LV,  64,  149 

false XI,  64 

Song-sparrow 25,  122,  150 

Sorrel,   sheep 5 

wood 92,  163 

Sparrow,  chipping 27 

English 35 

fox 26 

song 25,  122,  150 

Speedwell CXXXII,  18 

Spiders 121 

Spiraea 34 

Spring  beauty LXXXVI,  57 

Spruces 16 

Squirrel-corn 53 

Star-flower .Ill,  65 

Steeple-bush C V,  34,  117 

Stick-tight LXXX,  174 

Strawberries 35 

wild 94,  172 

Sugar  maples 43 

Sumach 168 

staghorn 1 50 

Sundew 105,  114,  1 16 

Sunflowers LXXIX,  16,  154,  158 

Swallow-worts 130 

Swallows no 

barn 74 

cliff 74 

tree 74 

Swamp-mallows 143 

Swampwood 51 

195 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Tanager,  scarlet 95,  133 

Tansy 155 

Thimble-weed XXX,  136 

Thistles no,  128,  150,  175 

Thorns 73 

cockspur 1 50 

white - XVI,  175 

Thrush,  hermit 95,  96 

olive-backed 95 

wood 75 

Thyme,  wild 138 

Tick-trefoil CXI  1 1,  143,  149,  159,    175 

Touch-me-not 1 75 

Trailing  arbutus LXXXV,  28,  34,  47,  85 

Tree-swallows 74 

Trees,  in  winter 16-17 

blossoming 32,  43 

Trifolium  incamatum 82 

Trillium,  painted 62 

Tulip 32 

Turk's-cap  lily CXXII,    1 16 

Turtle-head XLI,    162 

Twig-rush 115 

Twinflowers LXXXV,  90 

Twisted  stalk 64,  66,    149 

Vernonia 158 

Vervain,  purple 146 

Vetch,  blue CXXXVII,   134 

Viburnum XII,  93,   175 

Violet,  bird's-foot CXXVII,   60 

blue 58 

Canadian 1 72 

dog CXXVIII,   59 

lance-leaved -      60 

long-spurred 60 

196 


INDIA 


PAGE 

Violet,  round-leaved 58 

sweet  white 60 

yellow 50,  58 

Vireos 27,  74,  95 

Virginia  creeper 177 

Wake-robin   CXVIIT,    53 

Warblers   27,  95 

Water-hemlock 137,    144 

Water-lilies 162 

Waxwing,  cedar 22 

White-thorn XVI,    1 75 

Willow-herb 136 

Willows 17,  22,  42,  43,   45 

Winter  buds 17 

Wintergreen XXVIII,  48,    135 

Witch-hazel LXXXIV,    176 

Withe-rod 93 

Wood-lily CXXI,    132 

Wood-sorrel 92,    163 

Wood-thrush 75 

Woodpeckers 14 

Woodsia,  rusty   47 

Varrow 147 

Yellow-throat,  Maryland 74,  no 


*«*fe 


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By  Ernest  Thompson   Seton 


WILD  ANIMALS   I    HAVE    KNOWN 

Being  the  Personal  Histories  of  Lobo  the  Wolf,  Silverspot 
the  Crow,  Raggylug  the  Rabbit,  Bingo  my  Dog,  the 
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THE    TRAIL    OF    THE 
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book  well  worth  the  owning.  .  .  .  It  is  impossible  to  write  too  highly  of  the 
illustrations.  Pictures  which  really  illustrate  are  all  too  rare,  and  the  combi- 
nation of  author-artist  is  usually  a  fascinating  one."— New  York  Times. 

"  It  is  difficult  to  determine  which  gives  one  the  most  pleasure  in  a  book 
by  Mr.  Ernest  Seton-Thompson— the  author-artist's  narrative  or  the  artist- 
author's  pictures.  The  two  together  certainly,  as  in  the  case  of '  The  Trail  of 
the  Sandhill  Stag,'  unite  to  produce  a  singularly  harmonious  result.  Mr. 
Seton-Thompson  can  read  the  heart  of  the  hunted  animal  as  well  as  count  the 
pulse-beats  of  the  huntsman  himself,  and  in  this  tale  is  condensed  the  whole 
tragic  story  of  the  chase.  This  double  point  of  view  is  unique  with  this 
writer."—"  Droch  "  in  Life. 

"  Bliss  Carman,  speaking  of  '  The  Trail  of  the  Sandhill  Stag.*  says  :  '  I  had 
fancied  that  no  one  could  touch  *  The  Jungle  Book  '  for  a  generation  at  least, 
but  Mr.  Thompson  has  done  it.  We  must  give  him  place  among  the  young 
masters  at  once.'    And  we  agree  with  Mr.  Carman."—  The  Bookman. 

"  Nothing  more  beautiful  in  a  dainty  way  has  been  brought  out  in  Canada." 

—  Toronto  World. 

"  It  gives  us  again  glimpses  of  the  life  of  animals  that  are  astonishing  for 
their  delicacy  of  perception,  and  charming  by  the  deftness  of  their  literary 
form."— New  York  Mail  and  Express. 

"A  breezy  little  narrative  of  outdoor  life.  .  .  .  The  author  has  cele- 
brated the  steadfast  hunt  and  its  interesting  end  with  art  and  emotion" 

—New  York  Tribune. 

"  Is  a  truly  poetic  bit  of  impressionistic  prose."—  Chicago  Tribune. 


OUR     NATIVE     TREES 

AND    HOW   TO    IDENTIFY    THEM 

By  Harriet  L.  Keeler.  With  178  full-page  plates  from 
photographs,  and  162  text-drawjngs.  Crown  8vo, 
$2.00  net. 


CRITICAL    OPINIONS 

C.  S.  SARGENT,  Professor  of  Arboriculture  in  Harvard  University  : 

"Of  such  popular  books  the  latest  and  by  far  the  most  interesting  is  by 
Miss  Harriet  L.  Keeler.  .  .  .  Miss  Keeler's  descriptions  are  clear,  com- 
pact, and  well  arranged,  and  the  technical  matter  is  supplemented  by  much 
interesting  and  reliable  information  concerning  the  economical  uses,  the 
history  and  the  origin  of  the  trees  which  she  describes.  Outline  drawings  of 
the  flowers  and  of  the  fruits  of  many  of  the  species,  and  beautifully  repro- 
duced full-page  photographic  plates  of  the  leaves  or  of  branches  of  the  prin- 
cipal trees,  facilitate  their  determination." 

"  The  value  of  a  book  of  this  character  is  not  only  enhanced  by  its 
numerous  illustrations,  but  positively  dependent  upon  them ;  those  in  the 
present  volume  being  of  unusual  interest ;  and  the  book  ...  is  one 
which  should  add  new  interest  to  the  coming  Summer  for  many  to  whom 
nature  is  practically  a  sealed  book,  as  well  as  heighten  the  pleasure  of  others 
to  whom  she  has  long  been  dear."— N.  Y.  Times  Saturday  Review. 

OUR   COMMON    BIRDS 

AND   HOW  TO   KNOW  THEM 

By  John  B.  Grant.     With  64  full-page  plates.     Oblong 
i2mo,  $1.50  net. 

PARTIAL  LIST  OF  PLATES:  hoot  owl,  belted  kingfisher,  whip- 
poor-will,  KINGBIRD,  PHCEBE,  BLUE  JAY,  BOBOLINK,  MEADOWLARK,  ORCHARD 
ORIOLE,  PURPLE  FINCH,  RED  CROSSBILL,  SNOWFLAKE,  SNOWBIRD,  SONG  SPAR- 
ROW, CARDINAL,  SUMMER  REDBIRD,  CEDARBIRD,  MAGNOLIA  WARBLER,  BROWN 
THRUSH,  WINTER  WREN,  WOOD  THRUSH,  ROBIN,  and  42  Others. 

"The  book  is  learned,  but  not  too  much  so  for  common  use,  and,  if 
carefully  studied,  it  will  introduce  the  student  into  that  interesting  world  of 
bird  life  where  a  few  favored  mortals,  such  as  the  author,  Bradford  Torrey, 
Olive  Thorne  Miller  and  a  small  handful  more,  have  won  their  way  and 
brought  back  so  much  of  delight.  The  book  has  more  than  sixty  plates  of 
the  commoner  American  birds,  with  descriptions,  and  a  very  enjoyable  and 
instructive  introductory  essay."—  The  Congregationalist . 

"  It  gives  plain,  practical  illustration  regarding  birds  and  how  best  to  study 
them  in  their  haunts  and  homes  in  the  woods  and  fields.  The  plates  adorn 
the  pages  and  give  value  to  the  concise,  clearly  written  text." 

Chicago  Inter -Ocean. 


By  H.  E.  Parkhurst 


HOW   TO    NAME   THE    BIRDS 

Illustrated.      i6mo,  leather,  $1.00  net. 

"  Mr.  Parkhurst  has  compiled  a  convenient  pocket  guide  to  the  birds  of 
the  New  England  States,  New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania.  He  has 
greatly  simplified  the  common  system  of  bird  classification  for  the  beginner  by 
omitting  such  details  as  are  invisible  at  field-range,  and  by  emphasizing  such 
characteristics  as  color,  size,  and  time  of  appearance." — Review  of  Reviews. 

"  He  has  given  to  his  book  every  advantage  essential  to  a  plain,  straight- 
forward account  of  honest  observation." — N.  Y.  Tribune. 

"  The  advantage  of  H.  E.  Parkhurst's  '  How  to  Name  the  Birds '  is  not 
merely  in  its  concise  and  careful  descriptive  matter,  but  in  its  form.  It  is  the 
only  book  of  the  sort  that  one  can  put  into  the  pocket  of  an  ordinary  coat  and 
carry  into  the  woods  and  fields  when  he  is  away  on  his  country  rambles." 

— Brooklyn  Eagle. 

SONG  BIRDS  AND  WATER  FOWL 

Illustrated.      1 21110,  #1.50  net. 

"  This  most  entertainingly  as  well  as  carefully  written  volume  has  for  one 
of  its  best  values  the  attention  it  gives  to  that  most  untrampled,  and  yet 
peculiarly  alluring  domain  of  bird  lore— the  stream  and  the  lake,  the  sea-beach 
and  the  wave.  With  this  book  Mr.  Parkhurst  must  receive  full  confirmation 
as  one  of  the  most  companionable  and  beguiling  writers  on  birds." 

-G.  W.  Cable. 

"It  will  be  welcome  to  the  many  friends  his  former  book  made.  The 
illustrations  are  the  finest  that  have  ever  been  printed  in  this  country  in  black 
and  white,  with  exception  of  another  series  by  the  same  artist.  "—The  Nation. 

THE   BIRDS'   CALENDAR 

Illustrated.      12 mo,  $1.50  net. 

"  A  charming  book.  It  contains  a  year's  individual  experience  of  study 
and  observation,  the  birds  for  each  month  being  enumerated  and  described, 
with  comments  on  their  characteristics  and  habits,  and  with  very  useful  and 
beautifully  printed  illustrations."—  The  Outlook. 


CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S     SONS,    Publishers 
153-157  Fifth  Avenue,   New  York 


N.  MANCHESTER, 
INDIANA 


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